Thanks to our lovely 'Feijoa Fairy' - that's our Little Misses name for the lovely lady who delivers us a huge box full every year - our house has been experiencing a glut. Now I love feijoa's and so does she, but a box of this magnitude calls for some evasive action.
Having never had the need to long-term store these babies before, I didn't want to just toss them in the freezer. So I gave them the VIP treatment and poached them in sugar syrup first.
Poached Feijoas
3 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
as many feijoas as you can be bothered peeling
Dissolve the sugar in the water and bring the syrup to the boil.
Top and tail the ends from the feijoas, then slice the skin off.
Slice into rounds, then plunge straight into the poaching liquid.
Don't delay, as the feijoa flesh will go brown if left exposed to the air.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from the liquid using a slotted spoon. Place into a plastic freezer container with a lid. Allow to cool. Then slide into the freezer to safely store until later. The fruit can be used for crumbles, muffins, puddings or desserts.
Happy cooking my friends!
Our Little Miss has been eating through our box of feijoas so quickly, we've had to hold some back. We're not sure how she manages to eat so many without getting a tummy ache!
Here's the next instalment of Feijoa fabulousness.
Feijoa and Coconut Shortcake
3/4 cup dark cane sugar
150g butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup thread coconut
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 large feijoas
the juice from half a lemon
1 tablespoon coffee sugar or any other large granule brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 180deg. C and line a 20cm square baking dish.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly after each addition.
Fold in the coconut, followed by the sifted flour, baking powder and cinnamon.
Spread two-thirds of the mixture into the baking dish.
Set aside the remainder and prepare the feijoas.
Squeeze the lemon juice into a small bowl.
Peel and slice the feijoas
into chunks one at a time.
Immediately place into the lemon juice to prevent them from browning.
Spoon the feijoa
chunks onto the cake mixture taking care to leave the juice in the bowl.
Little Miss drank the left over juice and declared it delicious.
Now spoon lumps of the remaining cake mixture over the feijoas
.
Leave gaps in the mixture so the feijoas
can be seen.
Sprinkle over the coffee sugar and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until well risen and a skewer inserted into the mixture comes out clean.
This is a lovely moist cake that can be eaten alone or with cream or yoghurt. We made this for a get together with our Plunket buddies; then took the remainder up to the farm to share with our family. Happy days!
We love feijoas! Well, Little Miss and I love feijoas. Thanks so much to our friend Catherine for the glorious box she delivered to our door, we are enjoying a glut of the glorious fruit. Just like the brussel sprout, the feijoa seems to attract either a love or hate reaction from its consumers. Little Miss will eat them all day long given half the chance, but she told me her school friends are very suspicious of her lunch box staple and consider them to smell funny. Her teacher told her she was a special girl for liking feijoas. Maybe she doesn't like them much either.
Given our bounty, and its short shelf life, we have been pulling out all the feijoa possibilities this week.
Sticky Date and Feijoa Pudding with Caramel Sauce
200g pitted dates
1 cup water
1 teaspoon baking soda
125 butter
1/2 cup dark cane sugar
1 x 395g can of condensed milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
6 feijoas - don't peel and chop them until the remainder of the mixture is ready as they brown quickly.
Caramel Sauce
30g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
300ml cream
Preheat the oven to 180deg. C and grease a large oven dish.
Combine the dates and water in a saucepan and cook until pulpy. Remove from the heat and add the soda. It will fluff up a bit, then settle back down.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the condensed milk and beat again.
Then beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Peel and chop the feijoas
.
They turn brown quickly once exposed to the air, so stir them into the mixture as soon as they are prepared.
Fold the dates into the feijoa mixture, followed by the sifted flour and baking powder.
Place the pudding batter into the large greased oven dish and bake for approximately 45 minutes.
My dish was a little small as the following picture will demonstrate!
While the pudding is baking make the sauce: combine the butter, sugar and cream in a small pot and summer for 10 minutes, taking care not to let it catch on the bottom of the pot. Set aside until the pudding is cooked.
This is a delicious pudding that serves 6 to 8 diners depending on the generosity of the serving size.
Dissolve the sugar in the water and bring the syrup to the boil. 
