Monday, July 11, 2011

Durian Fig Cream Cake


Durian is considered the "king" of fruits, and for good reason. A hefty brown specimen covered in off putting spikes... nothing about this fruit says "eat me". When ripe it will split at the seems letting out a putrid sour stench likened to dirty socks, sweat, and dead animals. With my first encounter I would have described the scent in anyone of those terms, if not worse.

Opening the seams, it reveals segmented chambers with egg looking sacks encasing large seeds. Feeling like I was opening some sort of putrid carcass, I shoved the "egg sacks" into bags and got the remains as far away as possible.(never managing to actually taste the fruit but gladly gifting it to a more adventurous woman than I)

Durian #2 was a less horrid, if not pleasant experience. Was it me or the durian, I still am not sure? The smell was not overtly offensive( albeit odd, yes) In a strange way I enjoyed the process of uncovering the sweet fleshy treasures. The taste was a creamy sweet peppery garlic blend that can't be compared.


I so badly want to love this fruit, and I am determined to ease my way into that affair. This recipe is a grand introduction to the fruit, with enough conventionally delicious ingredients to disguise the unique durian disposition. However, it is not possible to completely mask the flavor, and surly you wouldn't want to...

Durian Fig Cream Cake

Carob Date Crust:
-10 medjool dates
-1/4 cup shredded coconut
-1/4 cup sprouted dehydrated buckwheat(sub more dried coconut if unavailable)
-2 TBLS raw carob powder
-optional: 1 vanilla pod

Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse until crumbly sticky texture is reached. If necessary add a tablespoon of water at a time. Put mixture into 8 inch spring-form pan and press along bottom. Place in freezer while filling is prepared.

Durian Filling:

-5 segments of durian(about 1 cup fruit)
-4 frozen bananas
-5 medjool dates

Place ingredients into high speed blender on high until creamy texture is reached. Pour mixture on top of crust and place back in freezer.

Date and Fig Crumble:

-4 chopped medjool dates
-5 black mission figs sliced in desired fashion

Place these ingredients evenly over top of durian layer and return to freezer.

Fig Filling:

-10 frozen figs
-1 fresh banana
optional: zest of one orange

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour over the top and spread evenly with spatula. Decorate with dates, figs, or desired topping. Place in freezer to set, preferable over night.

Enjoy!

3 comments:

Karen said...

Hi Christy,

Found your website from your 30BaD post. I have to say that my one and only durian experience was similar. A Portland friend opened one so I could taste it, which I wanted to do, until I smelled it. Ewwww!

The experience partially reminds me of artichoke, which I used to love when I ate cooked food: Who was the first person to think was edible, and why did they??!

The question your post brought to mind was: why? Why do you want to love it, and why keep trying it after you've smelled it once? I know the reason why I wanted to try it, which was that so many Aussies think it's heavenly (and I certainly don't want to miss out on heavenly!) But once I smelled it I was convinced there was no need to go further. My body, through my nose, already gave me the answer. Yes, those spike are there for a reason. Run away. Run faaaaar away!

Karen

Unknown said...

Hey there Christie,

I would like to invite you to be a demonstrator at Downtown Puyallups' new Sunset Market. If you are interested in talking further please e-mail farmersmarket@puyallupmainstreet.com

Kazumi said...

I'm looking at Fremont Fair website. The link for your website is not working. I thought you might wanted to fix that.
http://fremontfair.org/fairfood.html