Though I had seen passion fruit crème brûlée and cocktails on menus around town, I had never tasted the tropical fruit until I ordered some purée online. On its own, the purée is quite sour, yet very distinctive with an intoxicating, exotic aroma that’s slightly musky and reminds me a bit of guavas. Since passion fruit is well-complemented by white chocolate, ginger and coconut flavors, I decided to try a passion fruit pound cake with white chocolate chips and ginger tossed in. I topped it with a passion fruit glaze.
I would’ve made this recipe in a loaf pan (which is preferred for pound cake), but mine was busy and not at home at the time, so I settled for my square pan. When I pulled the cake from the oven, it smelled like heaven. The cake was so moist that it was nearly difficult to slice through. Every bite melted in my mouth and felt like a wave of tartness until a white chocolate chip rescued my taste buds. The best part: The ginger remained palpable throughout. I added ground ginger, but next time I’d be tempted to try crystallized. The glaze on top, however, was entirely unnecessary. The cake had plenty of passion fruit flavor as it was; if I made this again, I’d prefer it plain.
Keep in mind that this cake is definitely for those who appreciate sour tastes. Since I love sweet and sour anything, it’s right up my alley. But those akin to pucker may be best suited for something a bit more mild.
Passion Fruit-Ginger Pound Cake Adapted by Amrita Rawat from recipe originally published on swapnascuisine.blogspot 1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. passion fruit pulp or purée
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup, plus 1 1/3 Tbsp., buttermilk
Passion Fruit Glaze (optional) 5 to 6 Tbsp. passion fruit pulp or purée
¾ cup powdered sugar
• Grease and flour a loaf pan.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Sift the flour, baking power, baking soda and salt together into a bowl.
• In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, beating the eggs in one at a time. Add in the vanilla, 4 tablespoons of the passion fruit pulp or purée and the ginger.
• Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the bowl with the creamed butter and sugar, alternately, until well combined.
• Stir in the white chocolate chips.
• Pour into the greased loaf pan.
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until golden on top, or when the tester comes out
clean.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze (if using): Mix 5 to 6 tablespoons of the passion fruit pulp or purée and ¾ cup powdered sugar together until all lumps have dissolved.
• Gradually add more powdered sugar until you achieve the consistency of a thick, drippable glaze.
• Once cake has cooled, drizzle glaze over the top.
• When the glaze has set, serve.
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2011.