I just had breakfast at a local eatery that offered “lilikoi biscuits” as a side. (“Lilikoi” is the local name for passion fruit.) Intrigued, I ordered them.
They were scrumptious - a rather flat standard baking powder biscuit (the size and shape of a thick cookie), which had been turned over so that the lightly crisped bottom was on top. The biscuits were then drizzled with lilikoi syrup. The result was excellent.
I can reproduce the lilikoi syrup easily. Lilikoi is a weed here in Hawai’i. As a foraging foodie, I collect all the lilikoi that come my way, which is a lot, primarily from my property, a few from friends desperate to give them away, and a few that I pick up while running, So no problems there.
But the biscuits - any suggestions are welcome. What I need is a way to produce a cookie-sized, fairly thin, traditional-baking-powder-taste biscuit, soft and luscious like a biscuit should be, with a bottom that is just a bit crisp/crunchy.
I have some recipes and can certainly experiment on my own. But it’s my understanding that biscuits are somewhat finicky - not everyone can produce excellent biscuits simply by opening a cookbook and mechanically following the recipe. If anyone has any tips, tricks, favorite recipes, or opinions of any kind, I will enjoy learning from you.
If they were cut biscuits just pat the dough thinner with your favorite recipe.
To crisp the bottom cook in an iron skillet(preheated)not a baking sheet. Perhaps not touching.
I’ve always found biscuits incredibly simple to make. Much simpler than pie dough, for example. Try making a recipe before you decide they’re too complex - I think you’ll be surprised. Just be cognizant of not overmixing them or rolling them out too much. Actually, even the scraps I’ve re-rolled haven’t been a problem.
Oh, I’ve made biscuits before, and they have been fine. But I’m always interested in learning new things. For example, @Beckdawrek 's suggestion of the iron skillet.
Just back from Sint Maarten. A local (homeless?) woman approached us as we ate at an outdoor restaurant. She was selling Passion Fruit that she’d collected for a dollar a piece or 5 for $5. we went for the $5 bargain.
They were tasty and apparently very high in fiber, but there was very little “juice” in each fruit. Some pulp and seeds which we ate, but each fruit had about a tablespoon of juice, if that. Can you juice the pulp and seeds to get more juice?
Some people use the entire pulp, including seeds, but I personally dislike the feel of the seeds crunching between my teeth - it feels like a lot of tender membranes being crushed, not in a good way.
If you only have a few lilikoi, they are hardly worth it, as there isn’t a lot of volume of pulp to be had. But if you have a supply measured in the dozens, there’s a lot you can do. My method is to wait until the lilikoi is ready (when the skin starts to wrinkle), then cut and scoop out the interior into a receptacle I keep in the freezer. During lilikoi season I end up with about 6 cups of frozen pulp after a few days (I’m not sure how many lilikoi that represents - probably 30 or 40, but I’m not keeping count).
Then I thaw the pulp and briefly pulse it in the blender. Not too much, or the seeds will break down. But a brief whir helps to release the juice from the fiber. Then I strain the pulp through a fine-mesh sieve and end up with several cups of juice, which I measure into containers of various sizes and freeze again.
The juice gets used in lots of things: lilikoi martinis, lilikoi bars - like lemon bars, but use lilikoi juice instead of lemon - and banana-lilikoi pudding. (Did I mention we also have a surfeit of bananas? I have several dozen of those either ripening in the carport, ready to eat in the kitchen, or peeled and frozen for various recipes.)
Having eaten those wonderful biscuits at the cafe, I’m definitely going to reduce some of the juice into a thick syrup and drizzle it on my own biscuits. But only if they are good enough to deserve it!
I don’t have a technique to share (sorry), but would it be feasible to ask for some tips from the restaurant staff? I got a great banana muffin recipe from the chef at the Tahitian Lanai that way some forty years ago. It divided quite nicely so I could make three dozen instead of twelve dozen.
