Passion of the yoyos
Okay, the fact that I’m STILL giggling at my own cleverness with the title of this post is proof enough that I am a lover of all things cheesy - of both food and non-foody things. Why am I giggling and why is the title so titillating? Because, dear reader, today’s recipe is for passiofruit yo-yos! Geddit? Geddit? Haw! Laugh with me!
*listens to the crickets chirping in the distance*
Unfortunately folks, this is not my drawing - I just added the tagline. God bless clip art 
That’s enough kidding around, onto a topic that’s a little more serious. When Barb over at Winos & Foodies announced her LIVESTRONG event “A Taste of Yellow“, I made a note that I had to participate, as it’s a wonderful event trying to raise awareness for cancer and that’s definitely a cause that I want to get behind. Whilst I have been blessed not to have this terrifying disease strike anyone in my family, it is still one that affects the lives of thousands of people across the globe, often appearing with no warning whatsoever.
There are many different forms of cancer and it can attack almost any part of the body, with devastating effects if it is not diagnosed and treated immediately. There have been many advances made in the treatment of this disease, but more research needs to be done to find safer and more effective methods of treatment, as well as seeking out ways to prevent it, and making sure the preventions are acessible to those who may be affected.
To my Australian readership, I’d just like to bring this to your attention as well - the Australian government has initiated a vaccine program for cervical cancer which is free for women from the age of 12 to 26, and is running from July 2007 till June 2009. Now, whilst I’m not going to get into the sheer idiocy of offering such a limited program for a cancer which is recognized to be the 5th most common cancer to affect women worldwide, if you or those you know are eligible, you should take advantage of the government’s generosity in this instance.
Now, when I started thinking about participating in this event, I have to admit that I was quite lost as to what I’d make. Any yellow food? Where would I even start? Squash? Corn? Cheese? Bananas? Lemon? Eggs? So many different options! However, while sitting in front of the open fridge and musing at it’s contents, it was the lonely little container of passionfruit juice which grabbed my attention. Now, this juice first debuted on my blog a few months ago when I made my passionfruit souffle, so it seemed fairly appropriate that I use the product for another food blogging event 
Right, so I had my ingredient, what was I actually going to do with it? Nothing in my cookbooks really grabbed my attention, so I turned to my trusty collection of Australian Gourmet Traveller magazines and started flipping through them, and came across a section in the March edition which was all about passionfruit!
Hello! Was this a sign from above, or what?
After a bit of humming and hawing, I finally decided to give the recipe for passionfruit yoyos with white chocolate and passionfruit ganache a try, and aren’t I glad I did? These cookies are very short and crumbly, and combined with the ganache they work very well! The ganache itself is the winner in this particular recipe, with the sweetness of the white chocolate very nicely tempered by the acidity of the passionfruit, and if you have any ganache left over, there’s the added bonus of just being able to eat plain 
Passionfruit Yo-Yos with White Choc & Passionfruit Ganache
(from the March edition of Australian Gourmet Traveller)
Ingredients (makes about 25-30 cookies)
180g unsalted butter, softened
90g pure icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
80mL passionfruit juice **
225g all-purpose flour
100g corn starch
Ganache Ingredients
90mL pouring cream
45mL passionfruit juice
180g white chocolate
** To make passionfruit juice, blend the pulp to crack the seeds, then strain through a fine sieve. 12 regular-sized passionfruit should yield approx 1 cup/250mL juice.
1. Make the ganache first - combine the cream and passionfruit juice and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the stove off and remove the pan. Place the chocolate in a bowl and strain the hot cream mixture over the top, constantly whisking till smooth. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or till thickened.
2. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy, then add the passionfruitjuice and beat till combined. Sift together the flour and corn starch, then stir into the creamed butter till just combined. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Roll out the pastry to 5mm thick, and using a 3cm-diameter circular cutter, cut rounds and place on baking paper-lined baking trays. Bake for 8-10 minutes or till just golden.
4. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Spread half the cookies with about 1 tsp of ganache, sandwich the remaining cookies and put them in the fridge to set. Iced yoyos will last about 3-4 days, uniced they will last for up to 1 week in an airtight container.
6. Make yourself a pot of earl gray tea with a dash of lemon and honey, and indulge in a few little cookies for an afternoon or after-dinner sweet treat!
Technorati Tags: passionfruit, ganache, biscuits, cookies, a taste of yellow, livestrong, recipes, sweets, desserts
Others who have tried this recipe:
- Cindy from Where’s The Beef?
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Comments
Hi, I found you via food_porn and I just had to stop by to let you know how I love your recipes, you’re making my mouth water each time you post 
Australian girls are so lucky the HPV vaccine here in Italy is free just for the 12-year-old girls, and it costs A LOT (more than 500 euros). Hopefully this will change.
Mouth watering yoyos Ellie. Thanks for your support. You gonna need to explain the passion of the yoyos to me. I just don’t get it.
wow passionfruit!!! your yo-yos are so tempting!
I think I just seen that vaccine advertized on TV (by private company), but pay more attention to see what it’s talking about.
yum!! These looks so good So jealous that I can’t get passionfruits easily here in the states. I so miss our old passinfruit vine, back home in Melbourne!
Oh, one more thing: they look similar to some recipes of alfajor, excepct for the passion fruit adition and the filling.
I love the title. It made me laugh out loud. I have not tried passionfruit yet. But these might be what makes me try it. They look so good.
I love passionfruit, this looks delicious! Try making juice and add heavy cream, blend it with sugar… yummy….
Ellie, I think you are really clever with your blog. I admire your wit, passion and humanity. By the way, how do you make that grasshopper thing? I’ve been wondering about that. You must be a computer graphic genius.
Anh - Passionfruit are pretty darn spesh! I hope you give it a try soon - these biccies are really quite delish!
Marta - Awww, thanks hon! It’s a shame about the vaccine - I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that our govt scheme is broader than yours 
600 euros for the vaccine is really obscene!
Barbara - My pleasure As for the heading, it’s just a play on words These are passionfruit yoyos, so ‘passion of the yoyos’ I know, it’s an awfully cheesy line!
Gattina - Thanks hon! And I think that looking into the vaccine is a good idea for all women! Now, if only they could find one for breast cancer…
Brooke - Aww, that’d suck :/ But to make up for the lack of passionfruit, there’s soooooo many products in the US that you can’t get here!
Patricia - Thanks hon
Cheryl - Thanks sweetie! And thanks for the suggestion too, it sounds like a mighty good one
Sue - Hehe, thanks hon As for the grasshopper, I’m afraid I didn’t draw it (I tried, but it looked like a misshappen lump!), I just added the tagline Nope, not a computer genius, but I’ve worked in publishing so I’ve got a little knowledge on how to use graphic design programs
Callipygia - Can’t take the credit for this drawing (though all the others on the blog are mine), but the yo-yos were most certainly delightful!
Kat - Thanks hon!
Excellent post, my friend! Those lil cookies look professionally made! So goldeny delicious Terrific idea for something yellow!
xoxo
Gorgeous, Ellie, just gorgeous! I can just imagine how delicious and sweet these are! Beautiful entry!
Jaden - Hehehe, thanks hon! I’d absolutely LOVE to swap some cookies for your love and dimsum! Mmmm, dim sum
Lisa - Thanks hon
Gilly - Hehehe, cheers
Brilynn - Damn shame! Passionfruit is one of those fruits that just tastes of summer to me
I love this blog and your recipes! Girl you are GOOD!
I am happy to hear about the vaccine. There are actually people in the US who are Protesting this vaccine, saying it will make teens promiscuous. Wha…? 
Take care!
Great post! I wish I could squeeze me some passion fruits right now but at $2.49 a pop right now…I have to pass.
I am just tasting them vicariously through you!
Sue - Aww shucks! Thank you hon And I am ABSOLUTELY shocked to hear about that reaction in the US. Honestly, how could anybody use that kind of logic to justify denying such valuable care to its citizens? I hope that they aren’t the decision-makers :/
Helen - Thank you honey I know how you feel - the berry posts are starting to appear in the American and Canadian food blogs, and now I’m so jealous as I can’t get fresh berries till next year
Just to give extra info for the HPV vaccination program: I haven’t spotted anything about an end date, but there are a few implications you might have missed: The school vaccination program will continue beyond that end date you mention, just the GP program will finish (by then, any eligible females should be covered). Most vaccinations and tests for kids over about 6 are done in school - I have many memories of trying to calm down the girl next to me on the class roll due to her fear of needles (Who managed to convinced her that the scoliosis tests involve a lumbar puncture?!).
(PS: there are discussions over the vaccine encouraging promiscuity here in the UK, too. I’m an ex-pat, in case you’re wondering.)
Michelle - thanks for the update! I’m glad to hear that the school program will continue, that will definitely help to ensure that future generations of women are to be protected against this cancer! The promiscuity thing does baffle me, though - I can’t see how a cancer vaccine would encourage it, I thought that the argument with birth control already sorted that out?
Sandra - yoyos are an Australian sandwiched cookie combo, two extremely short, buttery cookies around a creamy filling which usually features some sort of citrus flavouring
Ellie, passionfruits are my favourite! And I remember bookmarking the same recipe
Yours are so nicely done…. Now you have tested it, I know the recipe must be gooood!