Passionfruit Melting Moments - Bill Granger Recipe

Having flicked through Bill Granger's books before, I knew that his recipes were quite simple. I used to think that equated to not being tasty, but when we did the Bill Granger Holiday cooking the books, I found some of the dishes quite good. I gave the Holiday book a more thorough read and when I saw the Passionfruit Melting Moments, I knew I had to try making them.

I have made melting moments before when I first started to bake. The results were awful. Dry, tasteless pieces of pastry. However, fast forward 4 years and my baking skills have improved immensely. I found this recipe to be super easy to make. And the results, magnificent. I've made these over 10 times now and always get people asking me what the "secret" is. I tell them there's no secret, just butter, flour, icing sugar and cornflour. Bill writes that he doesn't use custard powder in his recipe as the flavour and texture is compromised for the sake of the colour. I haven't tried adding custard powder to see what it tastes like, but definitely the colour is more muted rather than the fluorescent yellow you see in cafes. Taste wise, these melting moments are sensational. They're very short and crumbly and go perfectly with the passionfruit cream. I've made them as Christmas gifts and other gifts and people love them.

Tips wise, I recommend a few things:
- Do not overbake them. They will continue to cook when you take them out of the oven. So when they have the slightest hint of colour, take them out immediately. They taste far nicer without that slight burnt flavour.
- Try to divide the batter evenly into small balls otherwise some will burn while others are not yet cooked. I find it easiest to place all the balls on the tray and then with my fork continuously being dipped in flour, squash them all in one go.
- They're extremely fragile once baked so handle them carefully. Get them off the tray immediately and onto a rack to cool down.
- A little bit of passionfruit cream goes a long way. Don't try to put too much icing in. Just the smallest teaspoon of icing is enough.
- I used canned passionfruit so it's a bit sweeter but that seems to work perfectly. Strain the seeds out of the passionfruit pulp and just use the flesh as you don't want chunky bits in the biscuits.
- I find the biscuits keep well in an air tight container for about a week, if they last that long. I usually make 3 batches at once rather than just one batch.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my friends and I do. They are so easy to make and I'm sure you will have most of the ingredients in your pantry already. I always keep two cans of passionfruit handy in the pantry at all times when I'm in need of an "emergency" hit of sugar.



Passionfruit Melting Moments
From Bill Granger Holiday book.
Makes about 15.

INGREDIENTS

250g unsalted butter, softened
60g icing sugar
225g plain flour
80g cornflour

Passionfruit Cream

60g unsalted butter, softened
125g icing sugar
1 tablespoon passionfruit pulp, strained to remove seeds

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
3. Sift together flour and cornflour, add to butter mixture and beat well.
4. With floured hands, take a small tablespoon of mixture and roll into balls. Put balls onto tray and flatter slightly with the back of a fork dipped in flour.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden, then cool on a rack.

To make the passionfruit cream

1. Beat the butter until completely smooth.
2. Gradually add sifted icing sugar and continue beating until smooth and creamy.
3. Add the passionfruit pulp and beat well.

Assemble the melting moments by sandwiching the passionfruit cream between two biscuits.