Like many of our delicious seasonal fruits, we must embrace each harvest with both hands and squeeze every single living daylight out of it.
Passionfruit, which only seems to last around 6 weeks in my backyard, needs to be enjoyed every which way possible.
Here is my Passionfruit Shortbread recipe. Not only does fresh passionfruit pulp feature within the shortbread but also in the sandwich filling too should you wish to serve it as a dessert.
Straight into it: this dough was quite sticky so having a board of flour nearby when ‘balling’ into sizeable rounds with your hands is necessary! You will definitely need to chill the dough first before handling. Even after a good chill period the dough will become tacky again in a warm kitchen so, rather than persevere with cookie cutters I suggest you scoop teaspoonfuls of dough, using floured palms and mould into small balls.
By the by, I had so many passionfruit ripen at once some were beginning to waste. Not satisfied to allow that to happen I scoped out the pulp and froze them in ice cube trays for future baking needs. Over-sized trays (ex Milly’s Kitchen) are wonderful as each cube holds 1/4 cup which is a substantial quantity for baking. Perfect.
Passionfruit Shortbread
Ingredients
- 200g butter, softened
- 3/4 cup icing sugar
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- 3/4 cup cornflour
- zest of a small lemon
- 1/4 cup passionfruit pulp
Method
- Preheat oven to 160°C on fan bake.
- Blitz butter, icing sugar, flour, cornflower and lemon zest in a food processor. Scrape down sides and transfer into a bowl and fold through passionfruit pulp.
- On a floured board, knead dough (which will be very sticky), wrap in cling film and chill for around 20 minutes.
- Scoop teaspoonfuls and mold into small balls, place on a baking paper lined oven tray and slightly squish down.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on oven). A hint of golden on top is a cue that it is cooked through.
- Allow to cool.
- Prepare Passionfruit icing. To be honest, it is a make-it-up as you go along recipe. I suggest 1 cup icing, 25g butter (softened) and tablespoons of passionfruit pulp — mix well, and add more pulp until a desirable icing firmness. The moisture of butter and pulp means that no water is necessary for this icing. Delicious! Or, if you are feeling decadent, simply cream cheese and passionfruit pulp blended together until creamy. Squish passionfruit shortbread rounds together with icing. Keep in an air-tight container in the fridge when not devoured. And they will be. Definitely.
