Baked Lemon-Passionfruit Pudding

Valentine's Day, and this is what I made for dessert....using up the extra passionfruit that I had frozen after making the Buttermilk Pannacotta with Passionfruit. I also had a partially zested lemon in the fridge, so used the remainder of the zest, as well as the juice.

This is a combination of souffle and self-saucing pudding...by baking the batter in a water bath a custard is created on the bottom of the dish. The whipped egg whites that are folded into the batter cause it to puff up like a souffle during baking, but this is a more stable dish and only falls slightly when it is cooled. It is light and fluffy, sweet and tangy, with a creamy custard in the bottom of the dish.

Bake this in one large dish, or in individual dishes as I did. It is not complicated to make, and can be prepared ahead of time, to be popped into the oven and baked whenever you are ready.

Whisk together:

1/4 cup passionfruit puree or pulp
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 egg yolks

Whisk in:

3/8 cup (6 tablespoons) milk

Whisk in:

1 1/4 ounces butter, melted and cooled








In a large bowl, measure the dry ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined.

Whip the 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.

Continue to whip the whites, slowly adding:

2 tablespoons sugar

Whisk until you have a stiff, shiny meringue.

Gently fold the meringue into the passionfruit batter.

Divide the mixture between 4 greased ramekins.

Refrigerate for half an hour.








Heat the oven to 350F, and place the ramekins into a baking dish. Place the dish onto a baking sheet to make it easier to get it all in and out of the oven.

Fill the baking dish with hot water, adding enough to come at least halfway up the side of the ramekins.

Bake until the pudding is puffed, golden, just starting to crack slightly and when gently pressed in the middle feels slightly spongy.

This should take 25 - 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and when the ramekins are cool enough to touch, remove from the water, and allow to cool to room temperature.




To serve, dust the top of the pudding with icing sugar, and garnish with fresh raspberries. This dessert can be served at room temperature, which I did, or it can be chilled before serving. Either way, this is a sweet, tangy and extremely delicious treat!

• I found this recipe on the Immaculate Bites website, and made a few small changes based on what I had to use.
• The passionfruit pulp I was using was canned, and was the remainder of a can, that had been frozen. Passionfruit puree or pulp, or a combination, can be used. Look for fresh passionfruit when in season, but any other time frozen or canned can be used.
• If you are using fresh passionfruit, you will need the pulp from about two passionfruit.
• The lemon zest and juice can be changed to lime, or you can use a combination of the two.
• If you have coconut milk, use that instead of milk.
• I left the passionfruit seeds in the pulp, as I think they look good in the dessert, and we enjoy the crunch. Remember that if you do choose to strain them out, you will need more than two fresh passionfruit.
• Consider serving this with whipped cream to cut the sweetness. Tart fruits such as raspberries or blackberries will do the same thing.
• The safest way to add the water to the baking dish is to put everything into the oven and then add the water. You will still have to take it all out when it is done, and slow and steady is the best way to do this.
• Other fruit purees can be used. Try mango, apricot, Key lime or Meyer lemon.