Passionfruit Sandwich Cookies ~ #Creative Cookie Exchange

I finished eating my cookies before I finished drinking my milk, 

so clearly I need some more cookies.

Lilikoi-Lime Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

#CreativeCookieExchange is baking Cookies for Tea this month. As a big tea drinker and a cookie lover, this theme is perfect for me. The only trouble I had was narrowing it down to just one cookie. There are so many great cookie recipes out there waiting to be baked.

Passion-Orange-Guava Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

I was so excited when I found out that the theme for BundtBakers this month was Tropical - this theme is made for where I live! There is such an abundance of fantastic fruit here, and although I quickly made my choice I think that I may have to make a few more bundts based on this idea.

Buttermilk-White Chocolate Panna Cotta

There is a first time for everything, and this was my first time making panna cotta. I have certainly had my fair share at restaurants but had never attempted to make it myself.  If I had realized how easy it was to make something this delicious I would have been making it years ago.

My initial inspiration for trying panna cotta was actually Roxana's Home Baking.  I really enjoy reading her blog and I recently saw that she co-hosts a monthly Chocolate Party.  Each month a seasonal ingredient is chosen to go along with chocolate, you make something with both of these ingredients, blog about it, and then link back to the Chocolate Party Page (read more about the instructions here).

This month's choice to be paired with chocolate was buttermilk, so I decided that I wanted to make a panna cotta featuring these two ingredients.  This dessert was inspired by two recipes - one I found at Savuer and one at Tiny Test Kitchen.  I guess I wanted the best of both worlds - white chocolate and buttermilk but in one recipe.

How can something so delicious be so easy to make?  Within 20 minutes I had the mixture in the ramekins and ready for cooling.  Then came the wait - at least 3 hours to set.  I actually recommend a little longer than this because I would rather be safe than sorry.  Once they were set up I drizzled a little passionfruit pulp over the top and they were ready to enjoy.  So ono! (Hawaiian for delicious).

Buttermilk-White Chocolate Panna Cotta
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 4 oz white chocolate
• 1¼ cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or 1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthwise)
• 1¾ cups buttermilk 

Preparation

1. Soften gelatin in 1 tablespoon cold water in a medium bowl for about 5 minutes. 
2. Put cream and sugar into a small saucepan. Add vanilla bean paste (or scrape seeds from vanilla pod into pan, then add pod).
3. Heat cream over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, 3–5 minutes, do not let the mixture boil.
4. Remove from heat and add white chocolate, stirring until melted.
5. Add gelatin to cream mixture and stir until fully dissolved. 
6. Stir in buttermilk, then strain into another bowl.
7. Divide custard between six 8-oz. ramekins and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. 
8. To unmold, dip ramekins into a dish of hot water, then invert custards  onto plates.

Recipe by All That's Left Are The Crumbs©

To Try Tuesday - Vanilla Bean Banana-Passionfruit Bread

I do love a good quick bread.  The recipe for Vanilla Bean Bread first appeared on Baking Bites back in December and quickly went on my To Try list.  I love that it is a different take on banana bread.  And let's face it - variety is the spice of life!

It seems to be either feast or famine in my house when it comes to bananas.  The apple bananas do seem to be eaten way before the run-of-the-mill Cavendish bananas, but that is fine with me because I think that they make much better banana bread.

The only change I made to this recipe was to add some passionfruit pulp.  I have about 6 passionfruit that I need to use up, so the pulp of one went into the bread.  I am a big fan of the seeds, but feel free to push the pulp through a fine sieve to dispose of them if you prefer.

We all loved this bread and the tropical taste to it.  It freezes well too, so you can always have a loaf of banana bread on hand.

To Try Tuesday - Vanilla Bean Banana-Passionfruit Bread

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup vanilla sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed banana (2-3 medium)
• pulp of 1 passionfruit
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven 350F and lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together vanilla sugar and eggs until well combined, then whisk in the mashed banana, passionfruit, milk, butter and vanilla extract.
4. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just combined, making sure no streaks of flour remain. 
5. Pour batter out into prepared baking pan. 
6. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, with only a few moist crumbs attached.
7. Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf.

Recipe by Nicole Weston from Baking Bites. 

To Market, To Market - Part 1 (Fruit)

It was so beautiful here last weekend I decided to head back to the Farmers' Market.  This time I remembered my camera and decided that I would focus on two things - flowers and fresh fruits.  I arrived just as the sun was rising over the trees, and it was already crowded.  The market doesn't officially open until 7:30 a.m. but many vendors will let you buy their goods, but you will have to come back to pick them up after the horn has sounded.

There is certainly an abundance of luscious fruits at the market, and even a few that I had never seen before.  It is a given that there will always be pineapple, papaya, and bananas so I tried to find some unusual fruits to showcase here.

Lilikoi (Passionfruit)
"many edible seeds, sweet-tart flavor"

Seedless Guava
 "tastes like an Asian pear with a hint of apple"

Pummelo

"large sweet citrus"

Canistel (Eggfruit)
"Sweet potato texture"

Soursop
"sweet and sour taste, eat when soft and serve cold"

Sapodilla (Chico)
"tastes like a brown sugar pear, enjoy when soft"

Malta Lime
"a lemon-lime hybrid from the Mediterranean"

Rheedia Edulis
"sweet-tart candy-like flavor"

Pomegranate

"large, sweet variety.  Very high in antioxidants"

Rainbow Papaya
"very sweet, use the seeds in a dressing"

Duku Langsat
"takes 20 years to fruit. Delicious, sweet grapefruit flavor"

Black Sapote
"eat when very soft.  Sweet with some chocolate flavor.  Mix with whipped cream to taste like chocolate mousse"

Rambutan
"Rambut is a Malay word that means ‘hairs’, so you can see where the fruit got its name. The fruit is a yellow-white color and is soft and juicy"




And lastly, not a fruit but equally delicious.  One stand was selling beignets and I could not resist.  I love how this one looks like a heart.