I dislike durians... very very much. I have absolutely no idea why since my family loves them so much especially my brother, to such an extent that he was once nicknamed as the 'durian king'. Since young, I have always shun away from all kind of strong-smelling fruits and durians have to be on the top my list. You have no idea how much agony I would be in whenever my family brings back some durians, I would be locked up in my air-conditioned room and reusing to breathe in any of the 'polluted' air till it clears up.
So you could imagine my horror when my mum and sis-in-law suggested that I use a durian filling for my cream puffs. They must be kidding, I would be crazy to do that! Indeed... I am... I have no idea how I was persuaded by my mom to agree to that and that was the start of my nightmare.
It was a saturday morning, I was supposed to bake some cream puffs for my niece birthday party and my mum told me that she bought a couple of durians the night before and I could use the pulp as the filling later when I was done with the chocolate ones. Durians in the fridge... something tells me that the whole fridge would be reeking of the horrible smell. My mum saw the look on my face.
"Don't worry, I sealed the plastic container with a cling wrap, there would be no smell at all!"
I looked at her with untrusting eyes of mine and told her that we are not going anywhere near the durians till the very end, only when we have depleted the chocolate filling. She laughed and nodded her head.
Everything went well for the afternoon, many mini chocolate cream puffs were made, many... but I got a feeling that they still weren't enough for the party itself and I have to admit that quite a number were devoured by my mum and I before they had the chance to make it into the box! *giggled*
At last it was time for the durian filling, I opened the fridge and held the plastic container at an arm's length. Trust me, if I had an oxygen tank right at home, I would use it the very moment the cling wrap left the container. It was pungent... awww. But it was now or never, so I was determined to whip up the durian filling in a record time. The durian pulp was mixed with a little honey and cream till it was partially smooth but not losing all its texture. Double cream was gently whipped till soft peaks appeared and combined with the durian pulp. All went well since I was getting used to the smell till an old habit of mine almost killed me...
Whenever any chocolate filling got onto my finger, I would lick it (all right I know that is disgusting...) but I can't resist tasting it... and guess what happen when the durian filling got onto my finger, I licked it too! And the very moment I did that, I gagged, air was knocked out of me, it has been ages since I have ate anything with durian in it. With the high concentration of durian pulp in the filling, it was as if I was eating the actual thing. Cups of water and soft drinks followed through but the taste was still lingering in my taste buds... will I ever be the same again?
Although it was a nightmare, but I was satisfied seeing how much my mum enjoyed the durian puffs, the little wrinkles that tweak at the sides of her eyes when she ate it with a smile.
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