Lilikoi Malasadas (Portuguese Donuts filled with Passion Fruit Curd)

About a month ago, I got an e-mail from my brother with a link to a recipe for lilikoi malasadas. He asked if I thought they would be hard to make because he had had some in Hawaii and they were "amaaazing". I skimmed through the recipe quickly and replied, "Doesn't sound that hard as long as you can get me some unsweetened lilikoi (or passion fruit) concentrate and unsweetened guava concentrate. No idea where I'd even find that stuff.... Also, if you can get me a stand mixer with a dough hook, I'd be all set." And that was the end of that conversation.

Until last week when I announced on Facebook that I had finally caved in and bought a KitchenAid stand mixer. While most of my friends were congratulating me on the purchase, Timmy's only comment was "can you try making those lilikoi malasadas now?" Can you tell he's a younger brother?

There was still the issue of finding lilikoi concentrate and guava concentrate in the Boston area. I checked Shaws and Harvest and even Whole Foods with no luck. Then I looked on-line, and there were some suggestions of trying a local Brazilian grocery store, but then I saw some posts that mentioned I should be able to find it at Shaws in the frozen foods section where the Goya products are. So I went back to Shaws, and lo and behold, there was frozen passion fruit pulp! And when I went back to Harvest later on, I was able to find frozen guava pulp there!

Now that I had all the ingredients and equipment I needed (I actually had to borrow a stand mixer from Susan because mine hadn't come in yet; thanks, Susan!), I had no more excuses, so I spent this past Saturday making these beauties. Note: this recipe does take quite a bit of time what with making the dough, letting it rise, then chilling it for 2 hours, then shaping and letting it rise again, then frying it, and finally filling the malasadas with the passion fruit curd. But it's so, so worth it, especially if you don't live in Hawaii and can't just buy these at a local bakery whenever you want. Also, I did make the guava coulis from the original recipe, but I thought the resulting coulis was way too watery, so I'm not including it here. The malasadas were more than fine without it.

Lilikoi Malasadas (from here)
makes 50 donuts

Lilikoi Curd

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup thawed lilikoi (passion fruit) pulp
6 egg yolks, beaten

In a small saucepan, mix together the sugar, butter, lemon and lilikoi pulp; bring to a boil.

In a small mixing bowl, whip the eggs yolks with 1/4 of the hot lilikoi mixture; pour the yolk mixture back to the saucepan.

Simmer, uncovered, whisking continuously until thickened and starts to bubble. Do not allow the lilikoi curd to come to a to a full boil or the eggs will start curdling. Strain and chill.

Malasadas

3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
7 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups butter, softened to room temperature
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Sugar

In a large bowl of an electric mixer use the dough hook to mix together the flour, sugar, and yeast.

Mix in the eggs, one at a time to form a thick paste; continue to mix at medium speed for 15 more minutes, then add the salt. Add the softened butter, 1/2 cup at a time, while continuing to mix at medium speed.

Transfer dough to a large bowl, cover, and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk.

Refrigerate for 2 hours. Form the dough into 1-inch balls and allow it to rise once more at room temperature.

Heat oil to 375°F. Fry the dough until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Roll in sugar.

Fill the malasadas with the lilikoi curd using a pastry bag.

The lilikoi curd is seriously one of the best things I have tasted in a long time. It's tart and sweet and buttery and custardy all at the same time, and you just want to start spreading it on everything. Then I tried a freshly fried malasada, and I knew the lilikoi curd had met its match. The outside was crispy from the frying and crunchy from the granulated sugar while the inside was soft and chewy and slightly sweet. I only wish I had been able to pipe in more of the lilikoi curd because the little squirt I got in there just wasn't enough.