Eating custard apples as a child I loved the sweet creamy taste, the feel of the stone-like seeds in my mouth (and then spitting said seeds at people – sorry sister E). Eating them as an adult I enjoy the texture and flavour and I also recall a story told and retold whenever this strange fruit was around. It is just a scene really, about a man in a South East Asian kingdom whose only job was to remove every hidden seed in a custard apple ensuring that the fruit remains intact, flawless for the royal family.
Well, I gotta say, perfect and pristine are not really my idea of a good time. So when I was given a pair of super ripe custard apples (excess from a dumpster diving expedition, free!), I took them home and right away peeled and deseeded them and ignored the flashes of that story. Then I turned my pilfered fruit into a delicious frozen dessert – so much better than an expert fake.
Ripe custard apple is very sweet, so it works well being diluted with the coconut custard. I left the flesh in large pieces because I really like its texture once frozen.
After months, years even, of a custard apple drought, within days of making this dessert my Dad visited bringing edible gifts. Perfect avocados, thin asparagus stalks like models and a custard apple – unripe to withstand the journey unblemished, but soon to be fragrant and tender. What to do with this surplus? More Custard apple and coconut semifreddo!
Custard apple and coconut semifreddo
adapted from Taste.com.au’s custard apple ice-cream
2 large custard apples
300ml thickened cream
125ml milk
80g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tbs vodka
200ml coconut cream
toasted shredded coconut, to serve.
Peel and de-seed custard apples and cut or break flesh into pieces, being careful to remove any grainy sections.
Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan until almost boiled. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and yolks together until thick and pale. Pour the hot cream over the eggs, whisking continuously. Return to the saucepan and stir over low heat until custard has thickened. Stir coconut cream through, then set aside to cool.
Stir the custard apple flesh (**Edit: and vodka!) through and pour into loaf tin lined with plastic wrap and freeze.
To serve, remove parfait from tin. You may need to dip the base of the tin into warmed water to help the parfait release. Slice and serve with toasted coconut.
11 Comments
My dear Lili, how do you find the time for such zen-ly beautiful cuisinery and photography in what appears to be such a tumultuous time in your life? Inspiring!
miss_om´s last blog ..Through The Looking Glass: Where Coffee = Sleep
The third shot is absolutely drool-worthy! I’ve never cooked with custard apple, thanks for the inspiration! Bookmarked
Great idea. I so love custard apple. Haven’t eaten it myself since a kid. This is a delicious looking dessert!
Julia @ Mélanger´s last blog ..{ Belle Hélène :: Chocolate, Caramel & Pear }
I’m loving the chunks of custard apple that you can see in your pictures. Its so gorgeous when frozen. And oh how-on-earth are you finding time to cook things up whilst trying to pack your life into boxes?
shez´s last blog ..green tea macaron with chocolate ganache
Custard Apple is the best. I can eat that everyday. This is a fantastic way of getting people to try this fantastic fruit.
Katherine´s last blog ..Azuma Kushiyaki
miss_om: Oh thank you! It is plainly obvious that I didn’t have much time, seeing as it has taken me over a month to reply to your comment! Despite all that was happening, I still had to eat
Christie @ Fig&Cherry: Custard apple just freezes so well, it is a delight.
Julia @ Mélanger: Thank you.
shez: I still had to eat! And the packing process unearthed so many things that I just needed to use
Katherine: I agree! Thank you.
I have never tried a custard apple but the photo and the post really make me want to find some. Really gorgeous, thanks!
deana@lostpastremembered´s last blog ..Melon en Nougat via Tiffanys
Great photos – looks delicious!
so the vodka goes into the cook then?
Hi. I’m just wondering. Why, if custard apple is so sweet that it needs to be diluted as you put it, do you need to then go and add sugar to it?
anyway. just thought I’d put that out there.
Michael: Great point. Firstly, adding sugar makes the whole mixture freeze more softly giving it a much nicer texture. Cold things don’t taste as strongly as room temperature or hot foods, so freezing takes some of the sweetness from the fruit, and there is quite a bit of liquid in the recipe which requires some extra sweetening. Also, I find the sweetness of the custard apple more cloying than that of pure sugar, something about the fragrance, I guess.
Thanks for your comment