PASSION FRUIT CURD & VANILLA PARFAIT WITH SIMON SHAND, LEROY

Simon brings tropical flavour to the table with this dish, a version of which you’ll find on the menu right now. These bright notes are what we’re craving in March: passion fruit curd and fresh passion fruit pairs well with a rich vanilla parfait. Finished with shaved Piura chocolate from Original Beans — a bar with tart berry flavours.

‘I don’t use passion fruit much as you don’t really associate them with European seasonality. But these ones are great’ — Simon

Most passion fruit in the UK are imported year round from Colombia and Kenya. Picked early to withstand lengthy transport, they are a shadow of a truly seasonal, fully ripe passion fruit. It’s time to swap out wrinkled and overly acidic fruits for the real deal: sweet and full of tropical flavour.

Simon uses Passion Fruit from Amadora in Seville, a fourth generation organic grower. Hers are not picked early. In fact, they are not ‘picked’ at all. She runs nets under the vines and waits for the fruits to fall naturally — which they only do at full ripeness.

Make both the parfait and the curd ahead of time (both will keep for three days) so you can pull out this dish without fuss.

PASSION FRUIT CURD & VANILLA PARFAIT

INGREDIENTS

For the Passion Fruit Curd

4 Spanish Passion Fruits
40g caster sugar
40g butter cubed
2 eggs

For the Vanilla Parfait

225g sugar
280g water
1 vanilla pod
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
325g double cream

To Serve

2 Spanish Passion Fruits
50g chocolate (for shaving on top)

METHOD


1. First, make the curd. Scoop out the passion fruit, sugar and butter into a heatproof bowl.

2. Cook over a bain-marie until the butter has melted then add the eggs and whisk continuously over a medium heat until thick. Transfer to a tub and cover with cling film touching the top to avoid a skin forming then chill.

3. For the parfait, set up a stand mixer and whisk the eggs, egg yolks and a split vanilla pod on high speed for around 10 minutes, until it doubles in size.

4. While it’s whisking, make your sugar syrup by bringing the water and sugar to a boil until it hits 121°C. It can take a while to reach that temperature — best to measure it with a sugar thermometer. The bubbles will start to look very dense and syrupy.

5. Once the sugar has hit temperature and the egg mixture has doubled in size, slowly pour the sugar into the egg mixture with the whisk still running. Continue to whisk until the mixture has cooled down (the bowl should feel just warm to the touch).

6. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it through the mixture. Pour it into a tub and freeze overnight.

7. To serve, add a large scoop of parfait to the bowl, then top with a spoonful of curd and half a fresh passion fruit. Shave some chocolate on top.