Author: story of a kitchen (From the beautiful always order dessert blog by Alejandra Ramos: http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/2011/03/passion-fruit-and-vanilla-bean-pate-de.html?m=1)
Recipe type: dessert
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Alejandra also uses vanilla bean in her candies. I decided to skip this ingredient since I didn't have beans, only extract. My corn syrup also had vanilla flavoring in it already, so it seemed redundant.
Ingredients
900 grams frozen passion fruit puree, thawed (such as Goya)
⅓ cup plus 2 teaspoons powdered apple or yellow pectin (do not use citrus pectin)
1 cup plus 4 cups granulated white sugar, divided
⅔ cup liquid glucose OR light corn syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
sanding sugar to dredge candies
Special equipment: candy thermometer(s)
Instructions
Line a 12x17" sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper or a silicon mat (do not use a flat pan; use one that has at least 1" sides on all 4 sides, Alejandra suggests).
Combine the pectin and 1 cup of sugar in a bowl and whisk together thoroughly. This prevents pectin clumping in the fruit mixture when you pour it into the fruit puree and whisk over heat.
Attach a candy thermometer to a heavy bottomed and nonreactive pot (such as an enamel-coated dutch oven) and place over medium-high heat. Pour the passion fruit purée in the pot and bring to a simmer for 3 minutes.
Whisk in the pectin and sugar mixture, followed by the rest of the sugar and glucose/corn syrup. Whisk continuously until mix reaches 226 degrees F (about 15-20 minutes, per Alejandra; it took me 35 minutes to get up to temp).* Follow the heat so that it is not too hot. Medium is about right.
Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour into your prepared pan and let set for 6 to 8 hours. My pan was larger than what my cooked product needed (some evaporation during cooking, I assume) so I pulled up the parchment to even it up and create a 11x11-inch square. I've made this recipe since then and not had this problem. Allow this to sit overnight.
Once set, unmold, and cut.
The candy may start to "weep," especially after dredged in sugar. As you might remember from my prior jelly candy making, this irritates the crap out of me. I found one source (at chefsteps.com) explaining how soaking the cut candies in Everclear (it does not say for how long but I think just a quick immersion is enough) before dredging in sugar helps create a drier skin on the outside, mitigating the weep after dredging. If you don't mind waiting and don't want to buy a load of alcohol, allowing the cut candies to dry at room temperature overnight before dredging in sugar also works. I've also cut them, dredged, then dried them overnight on a rack with similar results.
Store pâte de fruit at room temperature or in the fridge in air tight containers separated with sheets of parchment. I feel the room temperature works better -- if you refrigerate and allow to come to room temp before serving, condensation can form. This also adds to weeping issues!
Toss in granulated sugar again before serving.
What I do: I can happily say that after drying out at room temperature, then sugaring and sitting in airtight containers, NO WEEPING! The three-day-old dredged candies were not as sparkling as the sugar became more translucent but no stickiness. Redredging is no problem before serving.
* The temperature 226 degrees F gives the candy a lighter, fresher flavor. Cooking to 248 degrees F imparts a more cooked flavor, per other pâte de fruit recipe sources. It really depends on your fruit choice and the amount of liquid. However, I felt cooking passion fruit up to 226 degrees F cooked it quite a bit, darkening the mixture and giving it a jammy, apricot flavor. Cooking to 224 deg F (around 107 deg C) give a slightly softer but still firm candy.
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/dessert-recipes/passion-fruit-pate-de-fruit-recipe/