This tropical-tasting passion fruit curd is wonderfully creamy, sweet, and tart. It’s my favorite way to use up this beautiful fruit. It’s very versatile, you can spoon it over sponge cake, Pavlova, spread it over pastry crust, or eat it straight out of the jar!
What is passion fruit?
Passion fruit is a small round tropical fruit, also known as maracuja, with edible pulp and seeds.
How to buy passion fruit: Look for the fruits that have wrinkled skin – these are ripe.
How passion fruit tastes like? It has a floral, tropical taste, it’s rather tart and just slightly sweet.
How to eat passion fruit? Cut the fruits in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Seeds and pulp are edible. You can eat them as is, for example, you can add them to your oatmeal, or juice the seeds – this is what will be needed for this passion fruit curd. The seeds can also be used as a garnish.
Ingredients:
- Passion fruit – we need only the juice. Some recipes call for the whole seeds, but I don’t like them in my curd, I prefer it smooth and creamy. The passion fruit curd recipe is sweet and slightly sour, with a distinct passion fruit taste. If you want a distinctly sour curd you can use juice from about 6 passion fruits (6 tablespoons of juice, 90ml) mixed with lemon juice (3 tablespoons, 45ml) but then the taste of passion fruit is not so pronounced so I prefer to use only the passion fruit juice.
- Eggs and egg yolk – make the curd taste rich, you could also add one egg yolk more if you have more on hand. Egg yolks thicken the curd. Don’t use just whole eggs or the curd may taste too ‘eggy’.
- Sugar – it’s necessary as the passion fruit juice is rather tart.
- Butter – makes the curd creamy.
- Cornstarch – thickens the curd. You can also use potato starch.
- Salt – enhances the sweet flavor of the curd.
How to juice a passion fruit:
- if you need a small amount of juice, like for a passion fruit glaze, you can just press the seeds through a small sieve
- if you need more juice, like for this curd, simply add the seeds to a blender, pulse a couple of times and strain through a sieve (more on that below).
How to make it step by step:
There are two methods of making a curd:
- double boiler method (described below) – takes a little longer
- stovetop method (it’s quicker) – curd is cooked in a pot, directly on the stovetop. You can try to make your curd this way if you already made a custard and you’re more experienced. This way it’s easier for the curd to curdle but remember it can always be salvaged by pressing it through a sieve.
STEP 1: Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop out the seeds. You will need about 9 small passion fruits to get 1/2 cup of juice.
STEP 2: Juice the passion fruit – add the seeds to a blender.
STEP 3: Pulse a couple of times to break down the seeds. Don’t mix them for too long or the pieces will be too small to strain!
STEP 4: Strain the seeds through a fine mesh strainer, discard the seeds (the black pieces).
STEP 5 + 6: Make the curd using a double boiler method – prepare a medium pot and bowl (glass or non-reactive metal bowl such as stainless steel). Place the bowl over the pot with boiling water, the bowl can’t touch the water surface. Add all ingredients for the curd (except for the eggs and the yolk). Whisk until the butter and sugar dissolve (over medium heat).
STEP 7+8: Reduce the heat to the minimum, add the eggs and the egg yolk, let the curd steam gently, until thickened. It will take about 10 minutes. At first, you have to mix sporadically, at the end very often. The curd should have a pudding consistency. It will keep thickening as it cools.
How to know if your passion fruit curd is ready? It should have a thick consistency, like a pudding (look at the photo above). If you’re still not sure, you can measure the temperature of the curd with a thermometer. It should be 160°F / 71°C.
What to do if your curd hasn’t thickened? This just means it wasn’t heated long enough.
What to do if your passion fruit curd has clumps: The heat under the pot must be really small, otherwise, the eggs will curdle – if this happens and you will see clumps in the curd, just put the mixture through a fine sieve quickly, then put it back on the burner.
Enjoy!
Storage:
Store it in the fridge for up to 1 week (possibly more, I haven’t tried that!). Place plastic foil on top of the curd to prevent creating a ‘skin’.
You can freeze it for up to 6 months.
What to do with passion fruit curd:
- My favorite way – make a passion fruit tart – this tart has a really unique taste! Buttery pastry crust filled with sweet and sour passion fruit curd, topped with crispy on the outside and soft on the inside meringue.
- Spoon it over sponge cake / angel food cake.
- Add it to your oatmeal / granola yogurt bowl.
- Use it as a filling for crepes.
- Use it as a filling for Linzer cookies.
- Use it as a topping for waffles, pancakes, ice cream, panna cotta, toasts, scones, Pavlova.
- Eat it straight from the jar!
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Passion fruit curd
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120ml) passion fruit juice from about 9 small passion fruits
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 4 tablespoons (60g) butter cubed
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch or potato starch
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop out the seeds. You will need about 9 small passion fruits to get 1/2 cup of juice.
- Juice the passion fruit – add the seeds to a blender. Pulse a couple of times to break down the seeds. Don't mix them for too long or the pieces will be too small to strain! Strain the seeds through a fine-mesh strainer and discard them. Measure out 1/2 cup of juice.
- Make the curd using a double boiler method – prepare a medium pot and bowl (glass or non-reactive metal bowl such as stainless steel). Place the bowl over the pot with boiling water, the bowl can't touch the water surface. Add all ingredients for the curd (except for the eggs and the yolk). Whisk until the butter and sugar dissolve (over medium heat).
- Reduce the heat to the minimum, add the eggs and the egg yolk, let the curd steam gently, until thickened. It will take about 10 minutes. At first, you have to mix sporadically, at the end very often. The curd should have a pudding consistency. It will keep thickening as it cools.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- How to know if your passion fruit curd is ready? It should have a thick consistency, like a pudding. If you’re still not sure, you can measure the temperature of the curd with a thermometer. It should be 160°F / 71°C.
- What to do if your passion fruit curd has clumps: The heat under the pot must be really small, otherwise, the eggs will curdle – if this happens and you will see clumps in the curd, just put the mixture through a fine sieve quickly, then put it back on the burner.
- The curd is sweet and slightly sour, with a distinct passion fruit taste. If you want a distinctly sour curd you can use juice from about 6 passion fruits (6 tablespoons of juice, 90ml) mixed with lemon juice (3 tablespoons, 45ml) but then the taste of passion fruit is not so pronounced.
- Storage: Store it in the fridge for up to 1 week (possibly more, I haven’t tried that!). Place plastic foil on top of the curd to prevent creating a ‘skin’. You can freeze it for up to 6 months.
- Yields about 1 cup.
- Calories = whole recipe. This is only an estimate!
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