Passion Fruit Bars

 

I'm incredibly blessed to do this really awesome thing called baking.

I transform flour, butter, sugar, and eggs into all sorts of crazy cool confections. I devote a considerable time of my day thinking about all things sugar and chocolate and lately, liquors in cakes. I am a proud owner of a cake turntable. I make some people very happy.

I'd like to tell you that, in all gratitude, everything in the kitchen goes exceedingly well. I'd also like to tell you baking is fuss-free. Batters are 100% under control. Natural lighting is always on my side. And that I look incredibly hot measuring flour.

What it's really like is that I always end up deciding on a recipe at the very last minute. Once I had to run out in the middle of the night just to get extra cocoa powder. Sometimes a recipe goes haywire on me, and it's a pain trying to either fix or abandon ship. Certain pies just make me want to cry.

Baking is hard work. But it's hard work I'm grateful for. 

Because at the end of the day, I still think it's one of the most amazing arts in the world. I'm really blessed.

 

These passion fruit bars are an example of what came about at the end of a long, terrible baking day. I had failed twice on chocolate cupcakes. The clock was pushing 9 PM. I needed something quick that would work in the next 12 hours, and these bars were it.

I had frozen passion fruit puree in my freezer and a key lime bar recipe I'd been eyeing for a while. One minor adaptation, and the crisis was averted. Thank God.

Real life baking. In all its glorious, frantic, messy craziness.

Can I talk about how simple these dessert bars are?

The only tricky step is beating the egg yolks, which you must do. Beating the egg ensures that you're developing its protein structure, which contributes to the stability of the bars. Other than that, it's just mix and pour and bake.

It's personally a tad bit too sweet for me. Too much condensed milk in the batter. But everyone loved it, so I guess majority rules on this one. Feel free to switch the passion fruit for key lime juice for the original recipe.

They are totally worth your busy, busy time.



Passion Fruit Bars

*makes one 9x13 inch pan*

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 10 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted
• 6 large egg yolks
• grated zest of one lemon
• 1 1/3 cups passion fruit puree
• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk (14 oz each)

Directions:

1. Make the graham cracker crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Leave oven on.)
2. Make filling: Put egg yolks and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (I just used a hand mixer.) Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add passion fruit puree; mix until just combined. 
3. Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. 
4. Cut into 1 by 1 inch bars. Garnish with whipped cream if you'd like. Serve cold.

Adapted from Martha Stewart