Red durian
Red Durian Quick Roll
As you can probably figure out by now, my favourite colour is red. That includes my food too, because it seems that I'm strangely drawn to the red (naturally red, of course) coloured foods. Examples are strawberries, raspberries, red capsicum, red dragon fruit and now since it's in season in Brunei, red durians!
Durians are really an acquired taste for people who are not brought up eating this sweet, pungent-smelling fruit. But then hey, I eat smellies like blue cheese without any problem and I wasn't exactly brought up on that! I guess the key here is to keep an open mind and don't just believe everything you hear or read until you try it (food-wise, I'm talking about here).
Sharp spikes of the durian skin
The sumptuous red durian
Which brings us back to the subject of the spiky durians, which I love. All types - white, orange, red ones - there are so many varieties. The red durians are prevalent in Borneo and they have a very rich, sweet taste that I can't adequately describe here. If only my tongue could write, I would let it have a go at telling you how this fruit tastes like. Lol!
We had several in the house and ah yes, the strong aroma penetrated throughout the whole house. I decided that perhaps the durian flesh would be good as a filling in some rolls so here it is, I came up with my Red Durian Quick Rolls recipe. If you can get your hands on some durian flesh (any colour), do give this a go....and if you love durian, it's just dreamy. To my friend KJR, this post is dedicated to you, a soon-to-be durian convert. *grins*
Red durian flesh, dark chocolate shavings and a sprinkling of brown sugar as the fillings.
Rolls before they entered the oven
Glazed durian rolls. Yuhhmeee!!!
Red Durian Quick Rolls
Ingredients for quick bread:
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
Filling:
1 cup durian flesh
100g chocolate shavings
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Sliced almonds, for sprinkling
Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons milk
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C, and line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and rub in butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add milk and knead briefly until it becomes a rollable dough. Add a bit more milk if it's too dry.
3. Roll dough out into a rectangle shape, and spread durian flesh on top. Sprinkle chocolate filling and brown sugar evenly over the durian layer.
4. Working with the long edge, roll the dough into a log and cut into slices about 1-inch wide. Place these onto the lined baking tray, sprinkle some sliced almonds over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. Prepare glaze by mixing together icing sugar, cooled melted butter, then add milk gradually to thin out the glaze. Let the cooked durian rolls cool for 5 minutes before spooning glaze over them.
Go on, keep an open mind and try making these. They are scrumptious with some hot tea or coffee!
