lorax

mods, if this gets popular could we maybe stickie it?

I'll kick off the thread with
Maracuya and Banana Mousse

Ingredients
Five Maracuya (purple passionfruit)
Two to three ripe bananas (depending on size)
Two packets flavourless gelatine
250 mL heavy cream or whipping cream (the smallest carton)
2 cups water (boiling)
1/4 cup more water (not boiling)
a drib of oil or some other greasy substance to grease the moulds. I like olive oil.

Kitchen gidgets
A blender
A strainer
A large mixing bowl or three
Beaters, either manual or electic
Moulds for the final mousse

Method
1. Open the Maracuyas, and scoop the seeds into the blender. Add about 1/4 cup of water and blender on high until it makes a fairly smooth juice. Strain the seeds out using the strainer and spatula. Reserve the juice.
2. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas until they are uniformly mooshy.
3. Whip the cream until it forms peaks, divide into two portions.
4. In the Maracuya bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring thoroughly. Fold in half of the whipped cream. Transfer to greased gelatine mould (s).
5. In the Banana bowl, repeat the procedure. Transfer to the mould (s) on top of the Maracuya.
6. Stick it in the fridge until it is fully gelled. Depending on your elevation and the size of your mould (s), this should be anywhere between 3 hours and overnight.
7. Unmould and serve. Yummy!

I use one big fluted silicone gelatine mould, and this recipe fills it. Friends use individual small ramekins, and it fills about 10-12 of these.

island cassie

Mango ice cream

8 Tablespoons sugar or 10 sachets sweet n low
1 and a half huge mangos or more
2 cups half and half
4 tsp lime juice

Puree sugar and mango, add half and half and blend, add lime juice 1 tsp at a time.

Place in ice cream maker for about 35-45 mins, or freeze in a tray in the freezer and beat when half frozen.

island cassie

Maracuya/chinola/passion fruit ice cream

4 very large passion fruit
half cup sugar
1 pint half and half - less water used to liquify the fruit

Liquidize passion fruit, sugar with quarter cup water, and sieve seeds - add back a few for effect. Mix into half and half, and leave in ice cream maker for about 45 mins or until freezing. Alternatively freeze in a tray in the fridge and beat when half frozen.

Cassie

bencelest

Any one who can tell me how to make jelly or fruit preserve?

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Banana Nut

MediaHound

Thread stuck, thanks Lorax!

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

lorax

THIS HAS BEEN UPDATED! DO NOT JAM OR JELLY WITHOUT RE-READING IT!!!

Jellies and fruit preserves

Bencelest: Fruit preserves are easier than jellies.... What kind of fruit are you jamming? Because the recipe depends on the fruit....

Preserves or Compotes

Generally, I do about half (10 lbs) or a quarter case (5 lbs) of fruit at a time... I'll give you the example for Lapin Cherries, because they're in season right now. How much you use depends on the size of your wok - an electric wok is the very best thing we've found for this, because the jam doesn't burn in it.

Wash, pit, and quarter the cherries into a large elecric wok or saucepan.
Grate three apples (I like Galas) and add this as well
Add a splash of apple or pear juice
Add 1/2 - 1 cup sugar for every 10 pounds of fruit (a full wok takes about 10 lbs of cherries) You need the sugar to activate the pectin in the apples and ensure a good set.
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, or 2 tbsp powdered vitamin C (ascorbic acid) - this keeps the compote at its original colour and prevents spoilage. Lemon or Vit.C are also important to the set of the jam.
Stir well, then put on low - medium heat
Stir every half hour or so, draining the water that collects in the lid: the lid should have a crack in it to let steam out.
Keep going until it starts getting thick. The general way I test this is to dip in a metal spoon, pick up a little of the liquid, then hold the spoon sideways and see how fast the juice drips off. The slower the better.

Once the jam has reached its desired consistency (in about 5 hours), hot-can it into hot glass jars.

Depending on how many cherries you use and the size of your wok or saucepan, the recipe will make up to a half gallon of jam. If you start with a full wok, it makes about 3L (and I was Canadian, so pardon my metric.)

If you are considering Peaches, Nectarines, or Apricots, these fruits taste extremely good if they're jammed with cinnamon and cloves. One stick of cinnamon and two cloves are sufficient for an entire batch. Don't use powdered stuff, use whole spices, and then fish them out when you jar the jam. Spiced Peach was one of the most popular jams we ever made. We couldn't keep jars of it in the house very long....

This type of jam is not a stiff as commercial or traditional British compotes. However, it spreads very well on bread, makes great ice-cream topping, and is quite a bit lower in sugar than the aforementioned concoctions. We also used it when we made our own yogurts - a tablespoon of fresh jam in fresh yogurt is amazing, and much cheaper and healthier than store-bought fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts.

Jellies

I'll use currants as the example, because these were the only jellies I ever bothered to make. If you want to make jelly from a low-pectin fruit like Peaches, Mango, or Strawberries, you may have to add a packet of pure pectin (available in the canning section of the supermarket). We never tried this, so it is my conjecture. For jellies, it is a really good idea to add currants to the base fruit, no matter what it is, because they are naturally so high in pectin that the extra pectin packs are not needed. (Commercial pectins mean adding a whole lot more sugar.)

Wash the fruits and place them in a large saucepan.
Add about 1/2 cup sugar for every 5 pounds of currants.
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon or 2 tbsp vitamin C powder.
Add a dash of apple juice

Bring to a boil on low heat and allow to burble until the skins of the currants have separated from the mooshy flesh inside them. If you really want to be sure that the jelly sets, and it's not of currants to begin with, you can add the pectin pack and stir thoroughly until it's completely dissolved. The package will have instructions; we always used currants or red plums instead of pectin packs. If it seems too thick, add a bit of water.

Spoon the hot moosh into a jelly bag (or a large square of cheesecloth) and hang it over a large catchment bowl. Let it drip overnight. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG - IT WILL MAKE YOUR JELLY CLOUDY.

Bring the juice to a boil, and then hot-can it.

I'd reccomend the compote method for the following fruits: Peaches, Plums, Cherries, Apricots, Strawberries, Jostaberries, Blueberries. Any of the acidic fruits will benefit from the jam process (fruits high in pectin are: Apples, Plums, Currants, and Pears. One of these should be added along with the base fruit in order to ensure that the jam sets nicely. You will also need less sugar if you do it this way, and therefore the flavour of the fruit comes through better.)

I'd reccomend the jelly method for: Currants (black and red), Red Plums Gooseberries, and Mango. (Mango really does not jam well, because it discolours easily and the high-acid nature of the fruit impedes the sealing process. We always had trouble with Mango preserves.)

I'd reccomend not even trying to can Pineapple, for the reasons stated under Mango.

If you want to try other fruits, give it a shot! Or ask. I don't can as much now as I did in Canada, because everything is always fresh here.

lorax

And a note on Pears.

Pears can be best preserved in heavy syrup - they disintegrate into Pear Butter when you jam them. If you like Pear Butter, then fine; it takes a long time to cook down but with some spices is quite tasty. If you want them to stay whole when you jar them, then lightly poach the halves, then make a heavy brown sugar syrup, and hot-pack them in this.

The Joy of Cooking has an excellent recipe for this.

supermario

I don't have a recipe with specific measurements, but wanted to note that if you have access to Cherimoya or Custard apples(different fruit, same family).. they make excellent milk shakes! Again, I don't know the exact quantities, but all you need is milk, fruit, and sugar.

katgum

I just saw your response, after I posted the mock Ice Cream. This is is the link to that topic with instructions on making the ice cream. You can probably do the same thing here but leave off freezing.
Kat