This zesty creamy treat will add a little zing to your fruit salad or ice-cream. Or it can be plucked straight from the fridge and enjoyed by the spoonful. Go on, I won’t tell on you.
The lemon and passionfruit custard is very similar to a citrus curd, except with a little cornflour added to help thicken the mixture. What results is a silky smooth feeling in the mouth, with a full-flavour burst from the lemon juice and fresh passionfruit pulp. For something whipped up on the stovetop in less than 10 minutes, it’s pretty darn fabulous.
This Lemon and Passionfruit custard recipe came from the 100 Delicious Biscuits & Slices book published in the 1970s. It’s one of the first books I started baking from when I was little, being enamoured with hedgehog slices, cornflake cookies and the like. On a recent trip back to the family home in Western Australia I raided Mum’s old cookbook collection for some more vintage recipes, unearthing some gorgeous ones that I can’t wait to share with you soon.
While wandering through the family garden on a beautiful day, amongst the warm earthy scents, scattered lemons and apricot blossoms, I was inspired to bake something to welcome the arrival of spring flavours. To be honest, this was originally a lemon and passonfruit slice. Imagining something akin to a vanilla slice, it instead was like an apple pie pastry case with a custard inside. A little too odd for my tastes, but I salvaged the glorious insides and bottled it up. Hot tip: this lemon and passionfruit custard is jaw-droppingly awesome drizzled over fresh mango and banana. Oh yes indeed.
Baby Cake Mistress liked to 'edit' recipes back then too. Sorry Mum.
Chilled Lemon & Passionfruit Custard
2.5 cups Water
1.25 cups Caster Sugar
2 tablespoons Grated Lemon Rind
1/2 cup Cornflour
1/2 cup Water, extra
2 Eggs
60g Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Lemon Juice
4 Passionfruit
Put water, sugar and lemon rind in large saucepan, bring to boil, stirring.
In a small jug, blend cornflour with extra water. Cook over heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly with a whisk to minimise lumps. Depending on heat, it might thicken immediately!
Remove from heat, add butter, lemon juice and passionfruit pulp. When cooled to a point where the eggs won’t turn to scrambled eggs when added, pour in the two lightly beaten eggs. Return to heat, simmer further 2 mins. Allow to cool, then place in jars and refrigerate. Makes approximately x Litres.
