Friday, January 22, 2010

BloggerAid Culinary Olympics 2010 - Frangipani Pie - Australia




BloggerAid - Changing the Face of Famine is hosting a Culinary Olympics to coincide with the Winter Olympics in Canada. The aim of the event is to promote food as sport (LOL) and BACFF's mission - namely to actively promote the alleviation of World Hunger.

I am an Australian member of BACFF, so I have chosen a typical Australian (and particularly Queensland) dish for my entry - namely, Frangipani Pie. It is apparently otherwise known as Pineapple Cream Pie.

Whatever moniker you know it by, Frangipani Pie is delicious - it consists of a sweet pie shell filled with alternating layers of coconut custard and pineapple custard, and is topped with fluffy meringue. And take it from me - it is devine!!!! The smooth, creamy coconut custard is offset by the tangy pineapple custard, and the meringue gives the whole dish a wonderful, marshmallowy mouth-feel. What's not to like?

The yellow and white colours of the pie reflect those of the
frangipani (plumeria) flower, after which the pie is named. Frangipani flowers are a common sight in Queensland, particularly at beachside resorts.

I don't live anywhere near the beach, but there is a frangipani tree growing in my street:


Here are a couple of close-ups of the delicate, creamy yellow and white flowers:






Of course, frangipani flowers also come in other colours, mainly varying hues of pink and white, but the yellow and white ones have my heart.

The recipe that almost everyone uses to make Frangipani Pie is
this one from the Golden Circle website. Golden Circle was a Queensland-based and Australian-owned cannery for all kinds of fruit, and is synonymous with pineapple in Australia, but, like many Australian iconic brands, it has now succumbed to globalisation and is owned by Heinz.

To assist with visualisation of the recipe, following are photos of the individual components of the Frangipani Pie. Here is my pie crust (made using
Matt Moran's recipe, but you an use whatever pie crust recipe you like or, to save time, buy one):




You then make the pineapple custard using crushed tinned pineapple:




followed by coconut custard (which for me, involved a dash to the supermarket at 8.40pm because I realised at the crucial moment that I didn't have any):




and finally, the fluffy meringue topping:




Assemble it all as directed in the recipe, and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes to brown the meringue, and voila:





Frangipani pie! (If you want the pretty peaks in your meringue, it's time to get your fingers dirty and muss up the top of the meringue in whatever pattern takes your fancy prior to baking - it's a little like using hair gel.)

You can eat it warm or chilled - I like it both ways.

Here's a peek inside my frangipani pie, showing the yellow and white colours:



BACFF has requested that I remind you of their wonderful BloggerAid Cookbook, which you can buy online
here. The profits from sale of the book go to the United Nations World Food Program. Coincidentally, I have another pie recipe in the book - so if you like pie, check it out!

I am also sending this frangipani pie to The Blonde Duck from
A Duck In Her Pond, who is hosting Glorious Pie Celebration Saturday over at The Pond. You can send your pie recipes to her by 3pm Texas time today. For Duckie's ode to pecan pie and a great pic of her Dad pouring "gravy" on his pecan pie, click here. Duckie is probably the world's number one pie fan.

Frangipani pie - flying the flag for Oz!!!


(Incidentally, Tuesday (26 January) is Australia Day, when we mark the arrival of the first white settlers in Australia.)


21 comments:

giz said...

What a fabulous post G and I've learned so much. I didn't know this existed and of course had no clue about the flower which really resembles the stephanotis flower. What a fabulous entry to the Culinary Olympics - you represent Australia well!!!
BTW - your dishes are getting so much more sophisticated. It's fun to look back to when we started blogging and now.

Cheers
Giz

Beck said...

Delicious! :) I'm a fellow Aussie (from Melbourne) and I follow your blog through Google Reader. You've got me craving some pie! Hope you have a great Australia Day and that you can get a long weekend out of it!
All the best,
Beck

Susan @ My Wholefood Family Essentials said...

Now that brings back memories! I haven't had frangipani pie for years. Would be a perfect dessert for Australia Day.

Finla said...

I do love the smell of this flower. The pie is really new to me; looks so so delish.

natalia said...

How wonderful ! I didn't know the wonderful frangipani flowers ! And the pie is divine !!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

How fabulous does that look? Although I should confess I've never heard of this pie before but perhaps it's really a Queensland thing? :D

The Blonde Duck said...

Thanks for the pie recipe! It's going up Saturday!!! :)

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

This is a very tasty Australian contribution to the Culinary Olympics. I really enjoyed reading about the background of the pie and am so glad you decided to join us!!!

Johanna GGG said...

I confess I have never heard of this frangipani pie - maybe I have not read enough labels on golden circle tins (though I love the pineapple).

I had a frangipani pie once and it had apricots and marzipan (or maybe I am confusing the names)

But I do love the smell of a frangipani flower which I associate with my visits to darwin.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Great idea, and great pie! I'm not even a huge fan of pineapple, but I think I could be tempted by this... ;)

Anonymous said...

That sounds very tropical and delicious! It looks beautiful too, with the meringue and flags on top.

Dharm said...

This pie looks really good! Way to go! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

Unknown said...

What a delicious looking pie. Hope you saved me a slice!
Have a wonderful weekend daaaaaahling!
*kisses* HH

Emily said...

It sounds tropical. I think I would love this pie.

Nice work!

Jennifer said...

That pie is absolute perfection! Well done!!!!!!

Trissa said...

I've never had frangipani pie! Looks delicious.

SilverMoon Dragon said...

Yum!
I've never heard of this either, being all the way down in Victoria, but it sounds great! Was thinking of bringing a pav to my BIL's birthday party on Tuesday, but now I might just try my hand at this instead.
I loooove pineapple.

Anonymous said...

Lovely pie! So appropriate for this time of the year!

Gloria Baker said...

Lovely pie and lovely post! Love the flowers, xx gloria

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Giz. I love the culinary Olympics idea - it is going to be so much fun seeing what eveyrone comes up with. I love looking back to see what I made in the past - some great memories.

Hi Beck, hope you havce a great Australia Day too, and thanks for dropping by! (I used to live in Melbourne - my favourite city!)

Hi Susan, I love frangipani pie, and wish it was more prevalent. Woruldn't it be great to go to a cafe for a slice of frangipani pie and a coffee?

Hi Happy Cook, if you like sweet things, especially pineapple, this pie is a good one to try - and pretty simple to make.

Thanks Natalia!

Hi Lorraine, I am beginning to think from the comments that maybe it is a Qld thing - there you go, a regional dish and I didn't even know it.

Hi Duckie, thanks! Love the pies at the Pond.

Hi Val, thanks for co-organising these Olympics - can't wait to see the fun!

Hi Johanna, this pie is inspired by the flower for its name rather than almond pastry cream - it is very confusing and I had to work this out myself (and sift through all the Google searches which brought up frangipane pies rather than the recipe for frangipani pie!). I am thinking this pie is a Qld thing from everyone's comments.

Hi Ghetti, let me know if you do make it and how it goes!

Thanks Jill - lucky for me it is Australia Day tomorrow, so these cocktail sticks with flags were easy to get.

LOL - thanks Dharm!

Thanks Heavenly Housewife - hope you had a wonderful weekend too.

Hi Em, yes, it looks and tastes tropical - all sunshine and sweetness.

Thanks Jennifer - I am proud of my meringue "mussing" technique!

Thanks Trissa - me suspects that this treat is a Qld dish, so I am happy to spread the word about it.

Hi Dragon, let me know how it goes if you decide to make it!

Thanks Ellie - it really is great for summer. Whoever invented it is a genius.

Thanks Gloria.

Adele said...

I haven't come across this pie yet, but it looks fabulous. Will have to find an occasion to make it.