Summery Passionfruit Flummery

 

Passionfruit Flummery, aka Frumentary, celebrates the intoxicating, aromatic and uniquely sweet and tart flavours of the tropical  passionfruit. If you are lucky enough to be growing a healthy and mature passionfruit vine, it will hopefully be flowering and fruiting for you throughout Summer, just when you need the pulp for fruit salad, a pavlova, or light, fruity desserts like Flummery.

I say that with a little trepidation as the vines can be a bit temperamental, but here in North Queensland, once they start fruiting, they generally continue through until Autumn. They can flower and fruit twice a year. I have heard that Passionfruit vines which require cross-pollination are more successful if two are planted close to each other. A good passionfruit vine can yield an excess of passionfruit, and friends of ours who have a vine, at this time of year are giving the fruit away, and freezing the pulp for later. Freezing the pulp in ice cube trays is a great idea, as quantities can easily be measured out when required.

A purple passionfruit. The fruit can be purple or yellow.

Passionfruit Flummery is a delicious, tropical, and very light fruity dessert similar to a sweet mousse. Why haven't I made this before? Probably because I have always found other uses for passionfruit such as the perfect topping for the cream on a Pavlova or in a tart or a slice. I remember my Mum making Flummery though. Fruit flummery is something of a classic, and this recipe makes the most of the plentiful passionfruit which can be handpicked from the vines rambling happily over many neighbourhood backyard fences and sheds, and which love climbing through nearby trees as high as they can go. Passionfruit have complex tropical flavours, and can be sweet and tart at the same time, with a detectable hint of honey. I made this fabulous Flummery recently on a very Summery Australia Day, the 26th January, instead of the traditional pavlova. It was delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients:

Serves 6

Allow 90 minutes to make this dessert. 

3 teaspoons gelatine

1/2 cup castor sugar

2 tablespoons plain flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup fresh orange juice, strained

2/3 cup passionfruit pulp

Method:

Combine the gelatine, sugar and flour in a saucepan, and very gradually stir in water. If you wish, dissolve the gelatine first, in a little water, but this will need to be done very gradually to avoid lumps forming in the gelatine. I dissolved mine first, and I think it was a good idea, as I needed to know the gelatine as a setting agent would work properly. Some people are slightly nervous about using gelatine.

Stir over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. 

Transfer to a medium bowl, and stir in the orange juice and Passionfruit pulp. 

Refrigerate until the mixture starts to set around the the edge of the bowl. Wait about an hour if you can, and then check it. This happened within an hour for me, but it might depend on your refrigerator.

Beat mixture with a hand held electric mixer for about 10 minutes until it is thick and creamy. If you have an apprentice chef on hand, they might just do this for you.

If you are serving it for dessert to dinner guests, pour the mixture into 6 serving glasses (3/4 cup capacity). Cover the glasses, and refrigerate until the Flummery is set. Or just choose a pretty nice glass bowl or any that you have, and pour it into the bowl to set. 

Serve with whipped cream and extra passionfruit pulp, if you wish. 

As I didn't have any extra passionfruit pulp for decoration, I grated some orange zest over the surface which was still effective. I served this Flummery in a large dish, and I didn't want to add anymore passionfruit seeds to the dessert anyway because I can't eat them. However, serving the Flummery in individual glasses, removes that problem as extra pulp can be left off any of the glasses, and the pulp can also be strained so that we have the flavoursome pulp but not the seeds. 

Serves 6 easily

My version of this recipe is taken from the Australian Women's Weekly Sweet Old-fashioned favourites cookbook, which is a wonderful source of cakes, biscuits and desserts favoured by home cooks and bakers over the years. Many of the sweet treats can still be found in the best coffee shops today. They will never date. 

Cook's notes:

• This recipe can be made a day ahead. That is also what I love about it.
• It's not suitable for freezing.
• It keeps so well in the refrigerator.
• I like to serve meals and desserts in individual vessels when I can, so next time I make this when I am in my own kitchen I will use serving glasses.
• I found that the pesty, pointy passionfruit seeds which I need to avoid, all sank to the bottom of the bowl I used, which I didn't expect to happen. I was thrilled about that, as it was easy for me to avoid them.

Backstory to this dessert:

Passiflora Edulis, commonly known as Passionfruit, have been around for a very long time. I've used them to flavour this Flummery, and there's an interesting history to this dessert. 

It was sometimes called Frumentary, before Flummery, and is believed to have originated in rural Britain. Using readily available foodstuffs, in the realm of from paddock to plate, they used oatmeal or wheat ears soaked in warm water for up to 3 days, and it was eaten as an alternative breakfast porridge. Which has got me thinking, can I now justify eating Flummery for brekky? Some sources say it was eaten at Scottish feasts as far back as the 15th century. Anyhow, over time, the grain component disappeared, and was replaced by fruit and gelatine (or "isinglass" as it was called before today's gelatine became available). This transformed Flummery into a jelly-like dessert. We can thank the Welsh for the fun name Flummery, their original name being Ilymru,  meaning "agreeable humbug". I also remember Flummery being made by my Mum with jelly crystals and chilled Carnation Milk. I read where this was a post World War 11 creation, and is still used today by some cooks. However, the AWW recipe doesn't require jelly crystals for flavour or as a setting agent because we've used fresh passionfruit, orange juice and gelatine. 

Passionfruit are native to South America, specifically southern Brazil, Paraguay and Northern Argentina where they have been cultivated by the indigenous peoples since ancient times. They are now cultivated commercially throughout tropical areas of the world. Some sources say that the Passionfruit was first named by the missionaries in Brazil, to commemorate the Passion narratives related to Christianity. What an interesting fruit the Passionfruit is. 

I love  making a dessert with such an interesting history, and which also just happens to be light, fruity and delicious.

Warm wishes

Pauline