With Patisserie at Home (Ryland Peters & Small, April 2013) by Heston Blumenthal alumni, UK pastry chef Will Torrent, you are in happy land of choux a la creme, babas au rhum, mille feuilles and other luscious classic desserts, not to forget madeleines and macarons.
Search is over if you are looking for a showstopper and palate pleaser for your next dinner party with this first excerpt from 'Patisserie at Home'.
Passionfruit
Délice
This is a sure showstopper, not only for
its appearance, but also for your taste buds. Passionfruit is one of my
favourite flavours as it works amazingly well with other ingredients but also
stands well on its own. This is a celebration of passionfruit, great for
special occasions, but you could make small versions for individual indulgent
moments!
20-cm/8-in. storebought flan base
Passionfruit
mousse
3 leaves of gelatine
250 ml/1 cup whipping cream
125 ml/1⁄2 cup passionfruit purée
125 g/1⁄2 cup passionfruit yogurt
3 tablespoons lime vodka
1 large egg white
21⁄2 tablespoons caster/superfine sugar
Passionfruit
jelly
2 leaves of gelatine
100 ml/1⁄3 cup fresh orange juice
11⁄2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
100 ml/1⁄2 cup passionfruit purée
seeds of 1 passionfruit
Swiss/jelly
roll pan, lined with greaseproof paper
deep,
20-cm/8-in. round springform cake pan
Serves
6–8
Start the recipe the day before you want to
serve the cake.
Put the flan base inside the cake pan and
set aside.
For
the passionfruit mousse
Put the gelatine in a bowl of cold water to
soften; put the cream in a bowl and beat until soft peaks start to form, then
refrigerate.
Put the passionfruit purée in a small
saucepan over low heat until hot. Add the softened gelatine, squeezed of excess
water, and stir until it has dissolved. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in
the yogurt and vodka.
Put the egg white in a stand mixer or in a
bowl using an electric whisk and whisk until it forms soft peaks. Add the sugar
and continue to whisk until well incorporated and glossy.
Now line up all 3 bowls. Add a little
meringue to the yogurt mixture and beat in with a spatula or balloon whisk.
Fold in the remaining meringue very gently so as not to knock all the air out.
Fold in the whipped cream in the same way.
Allow to cool completely, then spoon into
the cake pan on top of the flan base, leaving a little gap at the top for the
jelly. Refrigerate overnight.
For
the passionfruit jelly
The next day, put the gelatine in a bowl of
cold water to soften.
Put the orange juice, sugar and vanilla
bean in a saucepan over low heat and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat,
add the softened gelatine, squeezed of excess water, and stir until it has
dissolved. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the passionfruit purée and
seeds. Allow to cool slightly.
Pour the cooled jelly on top of the frozen
mousse in the cake pan. Allow to set in the fridge for about 2 hours before
releasing the cake from the pan and enjoying this tangy dessert. Cut into
slices using a hot, sharp knife.
VARIATION
Add pomegranate seeds to the jelly for an
extra splash of colour.
(* Recipe from 'Patisserie at Home' by Will Torrent- Ryland Peters & Small, April 2013- photography by Jonathan Gregson-all rights reserved)