Freestyle Friday #2 - Passion Fruit & Mango Cheesecake

Hello everyone! I hope you've all enjoyed this week's French pastry. On this episode of Freestyle Friday (which I decided to publish a day early), I thought I'd return to my favorite flavor combination: passion fruit and mango. After using about half a bottle of fruit concentrate in Chef Felder's passion fruit creme recipe, I didn't want the remainder to go to waste, so I decided to try this cheesecake. I've never made one before, so I was a bit nervous. I find a lot of homemade cheesecakes to be too "cheesy," or just too much like a slab of Philly topped with canned fruit. Not all that appetizing, in my opinion. This one, however, turned out surprisingly light, and I'll definitely make it again.

I did make a few tweeks, to includ the addition of a bottom crust:

For the Crust:
1 box animal crackers (pulverized)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick unsalted butter

I also changed the topping a bit, because I didn't have any unflavored gelatin (which, incidentally, is a bit hard to find on Amazon as well...unless you're buying in bulk). Instead, I diced up two fresh mango and soaked the fruit in a mixture of passion fruit concentrate and mango-flavored jello. Once that set up a bit, I poured the topping over the cooled cheesecake, and popped it back in the refrigerator to chill completely overnight. Yum! The office had cheesecake for breakfast :)

Freestyle Friday #1 - Our Family's Blueberry Pie

I thought I'd take a break from the book occasionally to post some recipes that aren't Felder's own. I'll be posting them on Fridays, from now on, but still plan on regular updates with French pastries throughout the month. First is a personal favorite of mine: blueberry pie. Growing up in the Midwest, and of French-Canadian and Scottish/Irish heritage to boot, my family had pie for dinner probably once a week. Meat pie, chicken pot pie, shepherds pie, you name it. Suffice it to say, it is now one of my standard fall back options for dinner or dessert.

However, up until this point, I had never made my own pie crust! So, I took the opportunity to rectify this handicap in time for a coworker's farewell party a few weeks ago. Rumor had it that the guest of honor was a fan of blueberry pie, so I jumped at the chance to bake one from scratch. Thankfully, both of my parents have really great fruit pie recipes, so all I needed to supply was the crust. I ended up using the same Pate Brisee from Chef Felder's plum tart, and it really turned out well (despite the fact that I forgot to blind bake the bottom crust...amateur mistake). Next time, I think I'll roll the crust a bit thinner, and make sure to blind bake before adding the fruit. There's always room for improvement!

Our Family's Blueberry Pie:

For the filling:
5 cups blueberries
1/4 cup tapioca
1 tsp corn starch
3/4 cup granulated suger
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 orange, zested

For the Pate Brisee (pie dough):
1 stick (4 oz., 125 g) unsalted butter, diced
2 cups (9 oz., 250 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 Tbsp (1 1/2 oz., 40 g) sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) cold water

Mix all of your filling ingredients in a bowl, and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the pie dough, divide into two discs, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, then roll out each disc to about 1/8 inch thick. Lay the bottom crust in your pie shell, prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork, and blind bake at 400 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes. Remove the bottom crust and fill with your berries. Cover with the top crust and crimp as you see fit. Use a pastry brush to cover the top with an egg wash (1 egg beaten), and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake again until the top crust is golden, about 25-30 minutes. Voila!