Passion Fruit Cake for My Fourth Blogiversary

This month marks the fourth blogiversary of Hungry Cravings. It blows my mind that the little blog I started way back in 2008 is still going strong and now has almost 250 recipes to its name. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you, dear reader, for inspiring me and supporting me. Thank you for sharing my passion for food and cooking. I love this virtual space of mine, and I always look forward to when you visit me here. I think Hungry Cravings turning four calls for a celebration. And you know what any good celebration needs? Cake!

Passion Fruit Cake
Printable Recipe

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
9 ½ ounces all-purpose flour
4 ounces cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
13 ounces sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 ounces milk, at room temperature
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
4 ounces passion fruit puree
1 recipe Passion Fruit Curd

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter 2 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on high for 3 to 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then ½ of the milk, then 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the remaining ½ of the milk, and then the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture, mixing on low for only a few seconds after each addition until just combined, and stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Do not overmix. Divide the batter among the cake pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges of the cakes start to shrink away from the pans and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes. Invert onto cooling racks and finish cooling completely.

In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip the buttercream and passion fruit puree until smooth, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Using a long serrated knife, level the tops of the cake layers. Place a dollop of the buttercream onto a 9-inch cake circle and top with one cake layer cut side down. Transfer about a quarter of the buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a circle around the top edge of the cake layer. Spread the curd evenly on top of the cake layer inside of the circle of buttercream. The circle of buttercream will act as a dam to keep the curd from oozing out. Top with the remaining cake layer cut side down. Spread and pipe the remaining buttercream evenly over the top and sides of the cake in a decorative manner. Cut into portions and serve.

Makes 1 9-inch cake, serving 8. In addition to the passion fruits for the curd recipe, you will need 6 to 7 passion fruits to make the buttercream in this recipe. When buying passion fruits, look for fruit that's shrinkled—that's my word for shrunken and wrinkled—and trust me when I say there's no better way to describe a ripe passion fruit. To make passion fruit puree, halve the passion fruits, scoop out the flesh using a spoon, and strain it through a fine mesh sieve. Cake keeps for 2 to 3 days tightly sealed in the refrigerator.

Two Books in a Single Shot

I recently had the opportunity to work with the very talented and charming John Valls. As a long-time admirer of John's photography, I jumped at the chance. John suggested we do some photos of raw and cooked red meat, which of course is right up my alley. We spent an entire afternoon playing with our food. With John behind the camera, I got to focus on my food styling skills, making an enormous steak look sexy for the camera. I gave the steak a good sear and topped it off with some Shallot-Herb Butter. I have to say I'm absolutely thrilled with the results of our photo shoot.

It's amazing to me how this one photograph sums up both my first cookbook and my forthcoming one. And speaking of my next cookbook, this Shallot-Herb Butter recipe will appear in Flavored Butters, which is due out from Harvard Common Press in the spring of 2013.

A big thank you goes out to John Valls and his lovely wife Theresa, who were a pleasure to work with. I look forward to collaborating with you again soon!

You can check out John's recap of our photo shoot here.

Photograph ©John Valls.

Something Special for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is right around the corner. Have you decided how you're going to make the day memorable for your mom? If you're thinking of treating her to a special homemade breakfast, make her some crepes or scones and a batch of this Passion Fruit Curd.

She's sure to love it!

Here’s wishing a happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Passion Fruit Curd
Printable Recipe

4 large egg yolks
3 ounces sugar
2 ounces passion fruit puree
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced

Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the passion fruit puree. Place the bowl over a medium pan of simmering water and heat, whisking constantly, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until thick. Immediately strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in the butter. Chill.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups. Keeps for a day or two tightly sealed in the refrigerator. You will need about 4 passion fruits for this recipe. When buying passion fruits, look for fruit that's shrinkled—that's my word for shrunken and wrinkled—and trust me when I say there's no better way to describe a ripe passion fruit. To make passion fruit puree, halve the passion fruits, scoop out the flesh using a spoon, and strain it through a fine mesh sieve.