What do passion fruit bars and energy dynamics have in common? It may not be immediately obvious, but in my world, they are intimately connected. And it’s not just because I made passion fruit bars this week with the fruit from the vines Andy planted last year.
Passion Fruit Bars
I tried to blend a number of different recipes because I didn’t have the right pan, and I didn’t want to make an entire 9”x13” pan of bars when only Andy and I would be trying this first batch.
Essentially, I used the King Arthur recipe for the crust (which is always delicious), and a blend of the recipes from Emily Fabulous and Balance with Jess. Why the blend? Again, the size of the pan does make a difference (and mine wasn’t a perfect workaround), and I prefer using confectioners’ sugar rather than granulated sugar in certain parts of the bake.
Andy had already made the passion fruit puree a couple of days before with the help of our immersion blender, a strainer, and, of course, his rapidly ripening passion fruit from our trellis.
I haven’t had much passion fruit, but I am a big fan of lemon squares, so I figured this would be pretty tasty, unless I burned the entire thing. Happy news! I did NOT burn the whole thing (although bits of the crust were singed here and there).
Positives
The passion fruit topping was delicious. The curd-like mixture baked beautifully. I had feared that it might be gummy, but it wasn’t. Andy, who loves eating passion fruit straight off the vine, said the flavors were spot-on, and then he went in for seconds.
Negatives
Since I had to use a slightly larger baking pan, the crust was thinner than I would have liked. It also burned slightly in places where I hadn’t evenly distributed the raw crust dough at the start of the bake. I would not be receiving a handshake from Paul or Prue on that one.
Lesson: If you need to use a different pan, opt for one that is slightly smaller. The crust might end up being thicker, and, therefore, you might need to bake it for slightly longer to avoid the dreaded soggy bottom during your blind bake. Still, you’ll get a better base for the passion fruit bars. Also, I’m a crust fan. Always give me more crust, not less.
How Do Energy Dynamics Play Into This?
Between mood and health issues, my energy levels fluctuate a lot right now. This can be maddening because my energetic self is signing up for classes and webinars and agreeing to bake new things. Alas, the lethargic self is the one who ends up having to do them all. It’s like when your outgoing self shows up for two seconds and agrees to go to an event, and your usual introverted self looks at the calendar and says, “Oh, no!!”
This has been happening for the last three days. I was on a real upswing of motivation over the weekend, and the last few days have involved me dragging myself forward while grumbling. On the upside, I have done all the things that “energetic me” agreed to do. And, as was the case with the passion fruit bars, I felt slightly better after they were done.
The mere fact that I accomplished something rather than moaning about the world all day long helped propel me to the next task. Still, I need to stop making bigger decisions when my energy is spiking. It’s like not shopping when you are hungry. Too much room for error!
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