November 19, 2009

• Food Porn Entry of the Week: Passion Fruit Sorbet

  I love passion fruit with a certain ardor.  It's lush, aromatic, and very tropical.  Looza passion fruit nectar was probably my first encounter with it.  That, or Ben & Jerry's passion fruit and raspberry sorbet combo, which was heavenly.

  This past week, Rainbow has had fresh passion fruit in stock, amidst all the squash and pumpkins that signify fall's arrival.  I can't remember seeing it in stock before there, though they may well have had it.  But of course I had to purchase some.

  They're tiny, lightweight, mottled brown-maroon fruits that wrinkle and dimple as they approach ripeness.  The insides are typically runny orange flesh with dark black seeds that are soft and reminiscent of kiwi seeds.  Edible, as far as I know.  But seeing them in the store instantly set me a-craving for that Ben & Jerry's sorbet, so with my ice cream/sorbet maker in mind, I picked up about 5-6 fruits.

  They're so light, I didn't think they'd be enough, but I'm happy to say they were plenty adequate.  Here's my recipe, based on the grapefruit sorbet recipe that came with my cuisinart sorbet maker.  The results are absolutely perfect and right on. 

  Passion Fruit Sorbet

  2-3 cups water
  1.5 cups powdered sugar
  5-6 passion fruits
  1/2 shot Hangar One Raspberry vodka (totally optional)

  Equipment:  sorbet maker, immersion blender

  1. Bring the water to a boil
  2. While the water is boiling, slice the fruits in half.  Scoop out the insides, seeds and all, with a spoon or melon baller and reserve.  Tip:  The pith/rind is white, and you don't want to scrape that out.
  3. When water is boiled, cut heat and add sugar, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved*.
  4. Add the passion fruit innards to the simple syrup and bring the mixture to a very light simmer.
  5. As the mixture simmers, use a wire whisk and beat the mixture thoroughly.  The idea here is that the fruit and essence clings to the seeds, and whisking and simmering will loosen them from the seeds. 
  6. When the seeds first start to come "clean," cut the heat and continue to whisk .  The mixture will be cloudy and lightly tinted yellow-orange.  Let it cool slightly before the next step.
  7. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a new bowl (Tip: a bowl with a pouring spout).  With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, push the mixture through the sieve, raking the seeds over the mesh.  Continue to do this until the seeds are basically free of any clinging fruit goo.**
  8. Scrape the bottom of the outside of the sieve with a spatula to get the last lingering bit into the water/sugar/fruit liquid.  Take care not to get any seeds in it.
  9. Let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes.  Then take an immersion blender and blend the cooled mixture.  This sort of evens out the texture and aerates it.  The goal is to get a fairly even-hued consistency immediately before you pour it into the sorbet maker.
  10. Turn the sorbet maker on and carefully pour the liquid into it.
  11.  After about 25 minutes, check the consistency.  If it's nearly done, pour in the 1/2 shot of vodka.  Let it continue to go for another 5-7 minutes, or until it's the consistency you like.

  * This was the weird part.   The grapefruit "model" I've made is 2 cups water and 2 cups granulated sugar for the simple syrup part.  I tend to use less sugar than that, and in this case, having just moved into a new place, I didn't actually have granulated sugar! But, for some reason, I have three bags of powdered sugar (Z-man and I like baking, what can I say).  So I started w/ 2 cups of water and just under 1.5 cups of sugar.  The result was actually rather thick, near-glaze-like consistency, and the sugar was dark in the water.  The granulated sugar dissolves more completely, and the simple syrup I'm used to seeing is fairly clear.  So I added 1/2 cup at a time of plain water and continued to dissolve the powdered sugar as best I could until I got it more liquidy than glazey, although the sugar was still cloudy in the water.  That was about another whole cup of water, possibly more, later.  It turned out just fine, though, given the nature of passion fruit flesh, which itself is kind of gooey when ripe.  The whisking and blending helped, I think, and the texture at the finish, and even 24 hours later, is just perfect.

  ** Mmm, goo.

  • 2:37 am
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