Coconut Custard Trifle With Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream And Tropical Fruit With Macadamia Nuts Food

TROPICAL TRIFLE

Steps:

• Place a medium heatproof bowl over a medium saucepan filled with a few inches of simmering water; make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Place the butter in the bowl and melt completely. Add the sugar, passionfruit juice and lemon juice and whisk until smooth and combined. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. Continue to cook, whisking every 1 to 2 minutes, until the curd thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes. The consistency will be similar to thin gravy. Strain into a clean bowl and cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (the curd will thicken as it cools), at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• Put the coconut milk in a large bowl and sprinkle the pudding mix on top. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Switch to medium-high speed and blend until the mixture is completely smooth and thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Keep refrigerated until ready to assemble.
• To assemble, spread 1/2 cup of the curd over the bottom of a large (about 3 quarts) glass trifle dish, then top with about half of the pound cake pieces, making sure there is one single layer of pound cake without any gaps. Top with half the pudding. Layer in 2 cups of raspberries, making sure to create a double ring against the outside edge of the trifle dish, so the color really shows through. Continue to layer the trifle dish with half of the whipped topping, the remaining pound cake, the remaining pudding, the remaining whipped topping and drizzle with the remaining curd.
• Place the kiwi rounds and blackberries along the edge of the trifle dish. Next, create a ring of raspberries working inwards. Pile the diced mango into the center of the trifle.

FRUIT AND PASTRY CREAM TRIFLE

Steps:

• Arrange a layer of ladyfingers in a trifle dish or large bowl, breaking the ladyfingers in half as needed to fit the sides. Cover with 1/2 to 1 inch of Pastry Cream, followed by a quarter each of the jam, fruit and whipped cream. Repeat the layering 3 more times or until you have used up all of the ingredients. Serve with a spoon to make sure everyone gets all of the layers. Enjoy!
• Put the heavy cream, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the vanilla bean seeds and pod in a saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over low heat. While the cream is coming to a boil, combine the eggs and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in one bowl and the cornstarch and milk a second bowl. Beat both with a whisk to a homogeneous mixture -- no big lumps of egg white! When the cream comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and discard the vanilla pod. Whisk half of the cream into the egg-sugar mixture and then IMMEDIATELY whisk it back into the pan with the hot cream. (This is called tempering and will allow you to combine boiling cream and eggs without making scrambled eggs.)
• Return the pan to a medium heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch-milk mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. (It is necessary to bring this mixture to a boil to cook the starch; otherwise the pastry cream will feel starchy and gritty.) Cook until thickened to the consistency of vanilla pudding (YUM!). Transfer to a bowl and chill; this can be done really quickly over an ice bath.

COCONUT MUG CAKE WITH COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM AND TROPICAL FRUIT

Steps:

• For the coconut cake and tropical fruit salad: Scatter the sweetened flake coconut over a microwave-safe dinner plate and toast in the microwave for 2 minutes. Stir the coconut flakes and microwave until golden, an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
• While the coconut flakes toast, mix together the strawberries, mango, kiwi, honey, lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon of the lime zest in a medium bowl.
• In another medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, beaten egg, vanilla extract, cream of coconut and sour cream thoroughly. Mix in the flour until smooth. Mix in most of the toasted coconut flakes, setting aside 1 tablespoon for garnish.
• Butter two 10-ounce mugs (I keep old butter wrappers in the fridge exactly for this purpose). Lightly dust the bottoms and sides with flour. Split the cake batter evenly between the mugs. Microwave each cake until the center springs back to the touch, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.
• For the coconut whipped cream: While the cakes cook, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Add the cream of coconut and whip to stiff peaks.
• Top the cakes with the coconut whipped cream, fruit salad and remaining 1 tablespoon toasted coconut flakes and 1/4 teaspoon lime zest. Buen provecho!

TROPICAL FRUIT TRIFLE

Steps:

• Make the trifle in a 9-inch round trifle bowl.
• Cut each pound cake round in half, horizontally into layers, so that you have 4 thin slices. Begin with by putting a slice of cake at the bottom of the glass. Spritz or drizzle the cake with a little peach liqueur.
• Fill a pastry bag with the Passion Fruit Pastry Cream and pipe it on top of the cake.
• Then add about 2 cups of the Macerated Tropical Fruit. Repeat this layering until you reach the top of the glass, finishing with a slice of cake.
• Top with the Chantilly Cream and garnish with candied ginger.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the extract and zest. Fold the dry ingredients by hand. Divide the batter into 2 greased 8-inch rounds, lined with parchment paper. Bake until golden brown and springy to the touch, about 1 hour.
• Mix the flour and the sugar together. In a heavy bottom saucepan start heating 3 cups of the milk and the vanilla bean over medium heat. In a bowl whisk together 1 cup of milk with the egg yolks, then add the flour and the sugar and whisk until smooth.
• As soon as the milk comes to a boil, pour about a third of the milk mixture into the eggs. Stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add the mixture back into the pot. Stirring constantly until the custard thickens.
• As the custard starts to bubble, you should stir more vigorously to take out any lumps that form. Boil the custard for about 1 minute to allow the flour to cook out. Remove pasty cream from the heat into a clean bowl, and fold in the butter and the passion fruit puree. Put a piece of plastic wrap right on the top of the pastry cream and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 2 to 3 hours.
• Whip all ingredients together until soft peaks form.
• Toss cut fruit with sugar and set aside for 30 minutes.

COCONUT CUSTARD WITH MANGO AND WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350^F.
• In a 13x9x2 in baking pan, place 6 3/4 cup custard cups.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the first 5 ingredients together.
• Add the coconut and mix well.
• Equally divide between the six custard cups.
• Pour hot water into baking pan to come half way up the sides of the custard cups.
• Bake about 30 minutes, or until custards are just set.
• Remove from pan and refrigerate at least 2 hours until cold.
• Can be made well in advance.
• For the Topping: Beat cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Spoon or pipe onto custards and sprinkle with diced mango.

COCONUT AND TROPICAL FRUIT TRIFLE

Steps:

• To make the coconut custard, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk with the 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the saucepan, then drop in the pod.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and coconut milk until completely smooth. In another small bowl, whisk the egg yolks until combined.
• When the milk mixture is hot, stir the cornstarch mixture to recombine, then whisk it into the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. While whisking constantly, pour about one-third of the hot thickened milk into the egg yolks, then scrape the yolk mixture into the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, just until the mixture begins to boil (it will be very thick). Remove from the heat and strain into a clean bowl. (The vanilla pod can be rinsed, dried, and used for another purpose; see page 14.) Stir in the 1 cup (70 g) coconut, and refrigerate until chilled. (To speed up the chilling, you can set the bowl containing the custard in a larger bowl filled with ice water.)
• To make the fruit filling, in a nonreactive skillet, gently cook the pineapple until it is heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool completely.
• Add the strawberries, mango, 6 tablespoons (75 g) sugar, lime juice, and rum to the pineapple and toss gently.
• To assemble the trifle, use a 2-quart (2-liter) rectangular baking dish with at least 3-inch (8-cm) sides. Remove the parchment paper from the sponge cake and cut out 2 pieces that each fit in the bottom of the baking dish. (You'll need the cake trimmings, so don't eat them!)
• Spread 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the coconut custard evenly in the bottom of the dish. Place one of the cake pieces on top. Spread half of the fruit filling and some of their juice over the cake.
• Spread about 1 cup (250 ml) of the coconut custard over the fruit, then place the second cake piece on top. Cover the cake with the remaining fruit filling and juice. Spread another 1 cup (250 ml) of the coconut custard over the fruit, and cover with the cake trimmings, fitting them in a single layer.
• Finally, spread the remaining coconut custard over the top and refrigerate, uncovered, for about 30 minutes to firm up the top layer of custard. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
• Scoop out big spoonfuls of the trifle so all the layers of fruit, cake, and custard can be seen. Strew toasted coconut over the top of each serving. The dessert is delicious by served all by itself, but even better in a pool of Raspberry Sauce (page 246), Mango Sauce (page 246), or Strawberry Sauce (page 248).
• This trifle will keep overnight, but if stored any longer, the juices from the fruit will make the cake too soggy.
• I prefer to use unsweetened coconut, but if you can only find sweetened coconut, reduce the sugar in the custard by 1 1/2 tablespoons.

TRIFLE CUSTARD

Steps:

• Place milk, cream and vanilla pod/seeds into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
• In a large bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar and cornflour until smooth and pale.
• Pour the boiled cream/milk/vanilla mixture over the egg yolks, trickling at first, whisking all the time to temper the eggs.
• Return the mix to the saucepan (some people think you should rinse it first), then cook over a gentle heat, whisking or stirring with a wooden spoon until it thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil your custard - it will split. If it looks suspiciously curdle-y, lift it off the heat and whisk firmly.
• Pass through a fine sieve and cool thoroughly in the fridge.

COCONUT CREAM CUSTARD

Steps:

• Whisk together in heavy saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking costantly and boil 1 minute or till thick, keep whisking.
• Remove from heat.
• Place pan in ice water, whisking occasionally until cool.
• Cover and chill at least 1 hour before using.