Passion fruit poppy seed pound cake

I bought a bag of beautiful, fragrant passion fruit to make Tessa Kiros’s passion fruit ice cream, but since there still was some strawberry cheesecake ice cream in the freezer I had to think of another use for the fruit. I thought of my good friend Ana Elisa, who I’d discussed Tessa’s book with once: I’d told her that I’d bought the book but hadn’t cooked from it yet, and how disappointing that was. “You have to give the book another try, it’s great!” she said. I remembered our conversation, then I remembered an amazing passion fruit cake she’d baked a while ago. Bingo!

I love it when one good thing leads to another – a perfect train of thought. :)

Passion fruit poppy seed pound cake
adapted from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe, inspired by Ana Elisa’s cake

Cake:
2 cups (240g) cake flour*
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup + 3 tablespoons (156g) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ½ tablespoons passion fruit pulp, strained
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups (250g) superfine sugar

Passion fruit glaze:
½ cup (70g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1-2 tablespoons passion fruit pulp, strained

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 22.5x12.5cm (9x5in) loaf pan**, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, cream, vanilla extract, passion fruit pulp and poppy seeds. The mixture should have the consistency of thick liquid – if too thick, reheat gently until the butter melts again.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar in medium speed for 4-5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just combined. Fold ¼ of the egg-flour mixture into the butter mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining mixture until thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour or until the cake is risen and golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for at least 30 minutes then carefully unmold onto another wire rack. Cool completely.
Make the glaze: in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and passion fruit pulp until smooth. Pour over the cake and let it set for 20 minutes before slicing it.
Cake can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap in room temperature for up to 3 days.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

** I made the exact recipe above using a 20x9cm loaf pan

Serves 8