honeydew pudding cake bars

last month when i visited my mom she gave me two very ripe honeydews and a cantaloupe to bring back home. i'm not a fan of honeydews or cantaloupes. i don't know, as a kid and even now as an adult, i just don't care for the fruit. of course both fruits aren't quite the same, but for the most part, i feel like they are. they have similar flavors or taste that my tastebuds can't be bothered with. but that's besides the point. my mom knew c and m loves cantaloupes. she threw in the honeydews too because i told her they would eat it. well, actually, the cantaloupe got eaten up that very week after we got back. the honeydew however stayed put, getting more ripe by the day. i eventually got around to cutting it up and discovered that it was way riped and super sweet. it had so much juice that i decided i would repurpose the pudding cake recipe i made a while back with the passionfruit juice. the end result? not too bad. instead of doing what i did last time, i decided i would turn these into bars instead. i figured i wasn't in any rush to eat it right away so i can afford to let these cool until they're ready to be cut into.

the verdict? it's definitely different from any kind of bars i (or you) have eaten. m loves it. he said it's got this custardy taste to it. i say it's gummy good because there's so little flour and lots of liquid in the mix. although i have to confess, there was this weird bitter aftertaste to it. i can't quite put my finger on why the recipe came out this way. not sure if it was the honeydew juice that was giving it this bitter aftertaste or something else. i've made this recipe a few times in the past with passionfruit juice and guava and all those times they turned out tasting just fine.

well, nevertheless, if you're curious to try it out, feel free to. it's still good and i'll probably make it again. yes... even with that weird bitter aftertaste. i say it just makes these pudding cake bars all that more interesting. :)





honeydew pudding cake bars

ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted (and maybe a little bit more for greasing)
• 1-1/3 cup sugar
• 1-1/3 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honeydew juice or puree
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350°F.
2. in a good-size bowl, throw in all the ingredients except for the confectioners' sugar and mix until everything is incorporated/combined.
3. pour mixture into a lightly greased ovenproof dish (i used an 8x8 nonstick pan) and bake for 1 hour or until golden.
4. let the pudding cake cool completely before cutting them into squares. then dust with confectioners' sugar to serve.

makes 16 squares. enjoy and happy eating! :)