Passionfruit Slice

I have been further experimenting with freeze dried fruit powders!  I talked about these in my post for Coconut and Marshmallow Slice.  Another advantage of the powders is that there is no need to have the fresh fruit on hand.

I have found that different fruit powders have a different effect on the baked product.  For example, I tried making a Red Velvet Cake using strawberry powder for the colour and flavour.  It didn’t turn out too bad but it added a lot of moisture to the cake.

In contrast, when creating this Passionfruit Slice, I found the passionfruit powder seemed to have the effect of reducing the moisture in the cake meaning extra liquid needed to be added to the recipe.

The fruit powders come into their own when used in icing.  I’m not generally a fan of icing but for this slice,  it is the finishing touch as the passionfruit flavour comes through most strongly in the icing.

I find this slice is best kept in an airtight tin and it does start to become drier after a few days.

Slice

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1¼ cups brown rice flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon freeze dried passionfruit powder
• ¾ teaspoon Xantham gum

Method:

Line a 20cm square baking tin.

Beat together the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale.  Add the oil and milk, and beat lightly to combine.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, passionfruit powder and xantham gum.  Ensure all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin ensuring it is spread evenly.  Set the tin aside while the oven heats.

Heat the oven to 180º C.

Place the slice in the pre-heated oven and bake for 25 minutes.  Test with a skewer before removing from the oven.

Once the slice is cold, ice with passionfruit icing.

Passionfruit Icing

Ingredients:

• About 2 tablespoons soft butter (the measurement doesn’t need to be exact, around about is fine)
• 1½ teaspoons freeze dried passionfruit powder
• 1 cup icing sugar
• Boiling water (about 1-2 tablespoons)

Method:

Place the butter, passionfruit powder and icing sugar in a bowl.  Gradually add enough boiling water to make a spreading consistency.  Mix well after each addition of boiling water.  Add literally a few drops of water at a time to avoid adding too much.  I find I use no more than about 1½ tablespoons of boiling water in total.

Spread the icing evenly over the slice.  Cut the slice into squares or any other desired shape for serving.