Cookie #1 Melting Moments (Australia)

My first experience with melting moments was in Australia which was part of my reason for choosing this biscuit and the tropical taste of the passionfruit was a natural extension of that. I have had the recipe below for years and no longer know where to credit it to. I like it because I get to put actual passionfruit in the cookie itself so that the flavour is not just in the creamy filling. In my mind, melting moments can stand as a biscuit in their own right or as the sandwiched version that is more iconic.

These were shared with my friend Helen and most were left with her although some will come in to work with me tomorrow. I have to remind myself that my aim to bake my way around the world, not eat my way around it… :-)

PASSION FRUIT MELTING MOMENTS

2 large passion fruit
200g unsalted butter, softened
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
75g cornflour or custard powder

FILLING
3T mascarpone
2T passionfruit pulp (strained, juice only)
icing sugar to taste

Cut two of the passion fruit in half and scrape out all the pulp. Next, either plonk the pulp into a bowl, seeds and all, or press it through a sieve with the back of a spoon, thereby extracting the juice (about 50ml) and discarding the seeds (I did these ones without seeds although my person preference is to leave them in).

Beat together the passion fruit, butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, add the flours and work everything to a soft, smooth dough.

Preheat the oven to very low - 150˚C (130˚C fan-assisted)/300˚F. Line a tray with non-stick baking paper. Take spoonfuls of the dough and mould them into small balls (I use a teaspoon and have it rather heaped) then place on the tray spaced 2-3cm apart. Gently press the balls with the back of a fork (which is tapped in icing sugar to make sure it doesn’t stick) and bake for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and lightly coloured.

Most fillings are traditionally a butter cream of some variety but I had mascarpone at home and love it so used that instead.

Best eaten: with a cup of tea- especially if you're having them without the creamy filling.

A new challenge for a new year

I have decided to set myself a challenge for myself for 2016: 52 weeks to make 50 cookies from around the world. My inspiration came from food52.com. And yes, I know it’s “around the world in 80 days” but I think an average of roughly a country a week is enough for me.

For the curious and pedantic, I’ll be making a mixture of cookies and biscuits. What’s the difference you ask? I found this explanation best but to summarise “A British biscuit is an American cookie and an American cookie is a British cookie and an American biscuit is a British scone and an American scone is something else entirely.”

I’ve tried to get a decent distribution from around the world and many factors go in to the final choice of cookie. Several recipes occur as an iconic biscuit for more than one country at once. Various versions of shortbread and sugar cookies occur on almost every continent and I’ll be trying to explore as many tastes and cooking techniques as I can. I welcome any family recipes and recommendations but final choice falls to my whimsy.

So starting in 2016 I hope you will join me in my journey.