Saturday, September 04, 2010

Roasted Tamarillo Fool

It's lovely to welcome back Janet from Tastespace as host of this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging - and this week I'm taking a closer look at Tamarillos.

tamarillo© by Haalo


Kiwi fruit isn't the only fruit that New Zealanders can take the credit for renaming - originally they were known as Tree Tomatoes or "tomate de arbol" but to avoid confusion with the regular garden variety tomatoes, the name Tamarillo was officially adopted in 1967.

To be fair, the red tamarillo was created in Auckland back in the 1920's - until then only yellow and purple skinned varieties existed.

Tamarillos can be used raw or cooked but you shouldn't eat the skin as it can be bitter. To peel Tamarillos, you use the same approach as you would tomatoes - cut an x at the tip and plunge into boiling water. Let them sit for a minute, place in cold water and then just peel the skin straight off.

When it comes to finding a recipe, I've once again looked to New Zealand and found quite a nifty dish in the latest edition of Dish - it's a variation by Pippa Cuthbert of the classic English dessert, Fool. In this version the tamarillos are roasted with a little honey and brown sugar until soft.

Roasted Tamarillo Fool© by Haalo



Roasted Tamarillo Fool
[Serves 4]

2 tamarillos, cut in half
brown sugar
honey
½ cup cream (I used Elgaar Dairies Cream)
½ cup thick yoghurt (I used Grandvewe Honey and Vanilla Yoghurt)


Roast the Tamarillos:

You'll need a baking dish that will snugly hold the halved tamarillos. Line the dish with baking paper, making sure it goes well over the sides - this is to make sure all you collect all the syrup that forms while cooking.

Place the tamarillos in the dish, cut side up, sprinkle over with a little brown sugar, followed by a good drizzle of honey.

Cover the dish with foil and bake in a pre-heated 160°C oven until the tamarillos are soft - about 40 to 50 minutes depending on the ripeness of the fruit.

These need to be cooled completely before you can continue with the recipe.

roasted tamarillo© by Haalo


As you can see in the base of this dish, there's that lovely rich thick syrup that's been created during the cooking.

Make the fools:

Scoop the tamarillo flesh out of the skin - discard the skin. Mash it lightly, thinning it a spoonful of syrup to make it an easier consistency to swirl through the cream.

Place the cream into a clean bowl and whip until lightly peaking, pour in the yoghurt and whisk again to incorporate. Add the mashed tamarillo and a spoonful of syrup and fold it gently through.

Carefully scoop this out into four glasses and finish off with an extra drizzle of syrup.

Place in the fridge for a few hours to set before serving.

Roasted Tamarillo Fool© by Haalo


It's a little bit decadent, but not overly sweet and light enough to be enjoyed anytime.

9 comments

  1. looks divine. i love the rough edges of the photos. looks cool. :-)

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  2. Sounds delicious... unfortunately I have never seen tamarillos in this part of the globe so I can only imagine the taste ;(

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  3. ...so, it's a fruit? And it's sweet? Like plums or passionfruit, with a bit of tart, or is it sort of super-sweet like mango?

    It seems like a cross between a tomatillo and ...something! Never seen anything like that in my life! Quite intriguing.

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  4. I've never cooked or eaten these lovely coloured fruits, I think its a fruit if its a relation to tomato right? I've seen them in the markets and I've just got to try this recipe, it sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Thanks Simon!

    Thanks Margot - shame you can't get them there. I suppose a good substitute would be rhubarb

    Hi Tanita - it's a fruit that is sweet/tangy, maybe not as sweet as passionfruit but it has that tang

    Thanks Anna - yep, it is related to Tomatoes and Eggplant which are all members of the nightshade family. I've got another tamarillo recipe coming soon!

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  6. I've never heard of this berry before. They really look like tomatoes! Interesting that you would use them in this application. Makes me almost think you could make a fool out a true tomato.

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  7. Hi Nate - I wouldn't make a fool from tomato, it has a savoury flavour that the tamarillo doesn't have

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  8. I have noticed some tamarillos around recently and have wondered about them, nice to see someone blogging about it!

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  9. Thanks Leaf - I'm glad I took the plunge and bought some, they are quite a lovely fruit

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