Passion Fruit Bars

Having bought a good supply of Passion Fruits, one of my favourites, I decided to make some Passion Fruit Bars which have a rich, buttery and crunchy base and are topped with a delicious curd made from the seedless pulp, or puree, from the passion fruits.

The is a very simple recipe really, though it does have a few steps.  But the effort is worth it as the resultant bars are just so very tasty.

Of course you can buy passion fruit puree in some places, but it can be difficult to obtain.  If you are lucky enough to have a local shop which specialises in some South American produce you may be able to find frozen passion fruit puree.  If you cannot buy the puree you can simply scrape the seeds and pulp from the inside of the passion fruit and then blitz that in a processor to separate seeds from pulp and pass the mixture through a sieve to leave you with a lovely puree.  

The amount of puree/pulp needed for this recipe is 160ml, 2/3 cup, without seeds.  

Having baked the recipe you have to let it cool completely in the pan before trying to remove. That is so that everything sets up well enough to remain intact as it comes out of the pan.  Then it is ready to be cut into bars of whichever size you want.

Mine turned out very well indeed, they tasted so very good with the rich passion fruit flavour from the curd and a wonderfully crunchy base which was buttery, just as I like.

                                                                   Passion Fruit Bars – Video
Ingredients:
For the base:

• 140g (1 cup) plain flour
• 50g(1/4 cup) caster sugar, or granulated
• 113g(1 stick) of unsalted butter. melted
• pinch of salt

For the passion fruit topping:

• 160ml(2/3 cup) passion fruit puree/seedless pulp
• 200g(1 cup) caster sugar, or granulated
• 18g(2 tbsp) plain flour
• 3 medium eggs(large in USA)
• 3 medium egg yolks(large in USA)
• 56g(4 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
2. Line an 8 inch square/20 cm square cake tin with aluminium foil.
3. Place the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl and stir to combine.
4. Pour in the melted butter and mix until everything turns into a smooth paste.
5. Place that paste into the lined cake tin and carefully press it over the base to cover it entirely, trying to ensure that it is level.
6. Bake the base in the oven for about 22 – 24 minutes, until it has turned a nice golden brown colour.
7. Remove from the oven and set to one side.
8. In a large bowl place the sugar, salt and flour and mix to combine.
9. Add the eggs and egg yolks and mix until they are fully combined.
10. Add the passion fruit puree and mix until fully combined.
11. Pour that mixture into a saucepan and heat on a low to medium heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture has thickened somewhat, and the temperature has reached about 71C /160 – 161 F.
12. Remove from the heat and add the butter.  
13. Stir until the butter has melted and is fully combined.
14. Strain the hot curd through a sieve, into a large bowl, to remove any lumps which may have formed.
15. Pour the strained curd onto the baked base.
16. Return that to the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  The sides should just slightly start to bloom.
17. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before extracting from the cake tin.
18. Peel away the foil and cut into bars.