I feel like I really went for it for this final recipe and I’m so glad I did! I really wanted to do passionfruit and papaya and this combo turned out just delectable. That tart punch of passionfruit curd topped with a creamy papaya mousse that’s just sweet enough and finally just a bit of lime zest for that fresh smell and a beautiful decoration. Also, great notes of vanilla and coconut from the crust. This pie ended up capturing everything I wanted in my flavor story of ‘taste of the tropics’. I also learned a lot through this process, especially about papaya. Papaya has an enzyme called papain in it that allows it to set itself, no gelatin needed! I ended up discovering this by accident at first during my prototypes and was happily surprised with how easy it was to create a mouse. You can also freeze it and it’s like ice cream!
Tropical Passionfruit and Papaya Pie
Ingredients
- Crust Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups 200g Nilla Wafers
- 1/2 Cup 95g Finely ground toasted coconut
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 4-6 Tablespoons butter
- Passion Fruit Curd Ingredients
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup passion fruit puree
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter cut into 1-inch chunks
- Papaya Mousse Ingredients
- Papaya – 2 cup chopped into cubes
- Brown Sugar – 2 tbsp Reduce or increase accordingly
- Whipping Cream – 200 ml
- Lime zest for decoration
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare your crust first by processing the coconut and nilla wafers in a food processor until they are finely ground like bread crumbs and transfer to a bowl
- Melt 4 to 6 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the bowl of nilla wafers, brown sugar and coconut and mix until it just begins to come together
- Transfer the crust mixture to your pie tin and firmly press along the bottom and sides to form your crust
- Bake your pie crust in your pre-heated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool
- Next, prepare the papaya mousse
- Prepare the papaya by peeling off the skin and removing the seeds
- then chop the papaya to into small cubes, measuring out 2 cups of cubes for the recipe
- Add the 2 cups of papaya cubes and sugar to a blender and make a smooth puree
- The puree should measure about a cup
- In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form
- Then transfer the papaya puree to the whipped cream and fold everything together
- Let the mousse set in the refrigerator for at least an hour while you prepare the passionfruit curd
- Reduce your oven to 325 degrees for the passion fruit curd
- In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, vanilla extra, and passion fruit puree and whisk together, make sure its fully combined (you can also blitz in a food processor or blender)
- Gently heat over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened, about 7-10 minutes
- When finished, immediately pass through a fine mesh strainer and stir in the cubed butter
- Pour the passion fruit curd into the pie shell and bake until the curd sets, about 12-15 minutes
- To see if it’s set, gently tap the edge of the pan to see if the center jiggles. If it doesn’t jiggle, it’s set.
- Let it cool to room temperature
- Once cool, top with the papaya mousse and lime zest
- Refrigerate for two or three hours to set (make sure to give the papaya mouse enough time to set, it may take longer)
