Passionfruit Shortbread

You’re going to notice a distinctly fruity theme in my recipes over the next few weeks – all the early summer fruits are irresistible at the moment, so I’ve been buying tons of the beauties and they have to feature heavily in my recipes. Whilst English summer fruits will predominantly feature, sometimes I can’t ignore a tropical fruit. These passion fruits were so delightfully wrinkled and crinkled, screaming out their nectar-like sweetness, that they quickly found a home in my shopping basket.

As passionfruit is such a sublime flavour I thought it should be allowed to shine through. Here I’ve enhanced a basic shortbread recipe with passion fruit pulp to stunning effect, you really wouldn’t imagine what a flavour punch the pulp provides. By all means leave the seeds in if you fancy a bit of crunch, I opted to sieve them out as I knew they’d be more popular in this house that way.

Tip: It is essential to have a light touch with short bread and not overwork it – you want delicate crumbly biscuits not tough tooth breakers!

By the way is it just me, or do empty passionfruit skins looks like sea urchins!

Passionfruit Shortbread (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes about 20

• 1/2 cup/115g dairy-free spread
• 1/3 cup/75g caster sugar
• 1 cup/ 125g plain flour
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 2 passion fruits, pulp sieved or not, depending on taste
• 2 tbsp caster sugar

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/gas mark 4
– Cream together the spread and sugar
– Sift in the flour and cornflour, add the passionfruit pulp and gently bring together to a very soft and sticky dough. Do NOT overwork!
– Rest in the fridge for at least half an hour
– On a well floured surface, roll out and cut desired shapes
– Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until starting to turn golden
– Remove from the oven and immediately dust with the remaining caster sugar.
– Transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
– Store in an airtight container.