I’d like to think that every recipe on this blog is good but once in a while something comes along which knocks it out of the park. And these Passion Fruit Olive Oil Slices knocks it out of the park completely. They are so good and impossible to resist. Rich, velvety passion fruit curd on a buttery shortbread. Moreish on a whole other level!
I spent quite a bit of time thinking of what recipe to make with olive oil after the kind people at Baleia Wines sent a bottle of their Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I wanted to go sweet again having made this delicious Olive Oil Polenta Cake last year but I did not want to bake a cake again. Coincidentally a friend sent a link to these Lemon Bars with Olive Oil and Sea Salt at just the right time and I decided to make it with passion fruit or granadilla as we call it in South Africa.
I think the grassy notes and concentration of fruit flavours in the oil was a perfect match for the intensely perfumed passion fruit. And the bitterness of the oil played off against the sweet richness of the curd and definitely amplified the passion fruit flavour.
The curd is quite soft because of the oil so you need to store these in the fridge. I popped them in the freezer and took them out as needed (as many a late night snack). The original recipe called for 300g sugar which I used but I think you could reduce that to 200g or at least 250g of sugar. The recipe also has quite detailed instructions about boiling the curd with the cornflour to ensure a good set. I have to admit I never knew that you could overcook cornflour, thereby “deactivating” the mixture and ending with a runny consistency.
Voting has opened in the People’s Choice category for this year’s Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year. Vote for your favourite of the 400 images that has been shortlisted across all the categories for 2016. And if you look closely, I am thrilled to have 4 shortlisted images this year in the Cream of the Crop, Marks & Spencer Food Portraiture and the Food Blogger categories.
Ingredients
- Shortbread:
- 155g flour
- 50g sugar
- 25g icing sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- ¼ tsp salt
- 140g cold butter, cut into cubes
- Curd:
- ½ cup passion fruit (granadilla) pulp (seeds removed to taste)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 300g sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 3 yolks
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- good pinch of salt
- 60g grams butter
- 60ml extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Heat oven to 165 degrees C
- Line a 20cm x 20cm baking pan with enough baking paper to hang over two of the sides (to be used as handles later to lift the bars out of the pan)
- Pulse together the flour, sugar, icing sugar and salt in a food processor, or whisk together in a large bowl
- Add the butter and pulse (or use two knives or your fingers) to cut the butter into the flour until a crumbly dough forms
- Press dough into prepared pan and bake until shortbread is pale golden all over, 30 to 35 minutes.
- While the shortbread is baking, prepare the passion fruit curd
- In a small saucepan, whisk together passion fruit pulp, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and yolks, cornstarch and sea salt over medium heat until boiling and thickened (about 3 to 5 minutes)
- Make sure mixture comes to a good boil for one minute (but not longer) or the cornstarch won’t activate and the curd will be thin and runny
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter and olive oil
- When the shortbread is ready, take it out of the oven and carefully pour the curd onto the shortbread base
- Return the pan to the oven and bBake until topping is just set, about 10 to 15 minutes
- Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold before cutting into bars
- Sprinkle with icing sugar (optional)
We’ve had a number of enquiries for the next Food Photography Workshop and I am pleased to confirm the 15th of May 2016 for the next one. Let me know if you would like to attend. More details here .
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Mike
Apr 4, 2016
Lovely
heinstirred
Apr 4, 2016
Thank you Mike. Let me know what you think of them when you’ve made them.
Bushra alhamidi
Apr 4, 2016
Hi
This recipe looks great in my going to try it and let you know .thanks
heinstirred
Apr 4, 2016
Fantastic Bushra. Hope you love it!
Eden Passante
Apr 6, 2016
What a great idea! This looks awesome!
heinstirred
Apr 6, 2016
Thank you so much Eden. Hope you enjoy
Sabrina
Apr 8, 2016
I’m in love with this recipe! I think I might make these soon 🙂
heinstirred
Apr 8, 2016
You have to Sabrina! It is so good 🙂
Julie
Apr 11, 2016
I made these and agree, they are amazing! I used 5 whole eggs instead of the yolk/whole egg mix and the set was good. The love oil gives the topping a beautiful gloss. Thanks very much for the recipe.
heinstirred
Apr 11, 2016
So happy you made these Julie and loved them Julie. And thank you for the tip about using whole eggs.