Fresh Passion Fruit Syrup

by Linda

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is." — H. Jackson Brown

Ripe passion fruit are pitted on the skin.

    Michelle and I decided to make Hurricane cocktails after she and her daughter Maddie returned from their trip to New Orleans this past June. They were coming to visit me in California for my birthday in July, and I volunteered to make the passion fruit syrup that we would need to make the drink. I was lucky to find beautiful passion fruit from New Zealand at the Whole Foods Market® where I work, because they are not always available. The fruit that I purchased were as large as a good sized plums, and they had smooth dark purple skins. I knew that I would have to let them ripen in a bowl on my kitchen counter until the skins became pitted and the fruit shriveled a bit. This ripening period took much longer than I anticipated, and the fruit wasn't ready for about two weeks. In fact, it turned out that they were not ready until after Michelle and Maddie arrived for our Sistercation and my birthday party. The upside of that was that Michelle was able to help me prepare the fruit to make the syrup.

This passion flower was photographed by me in my yard. This variety does not produce fruit.

Equipment:
One 2 quart saucepan
a fine mesh sieve
bowl for cooked syrup
bowl for ice bath

Michelle cuts the ripe passion fruit in half.

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup filtered water
1.5 cups fresh passion fruit pulp with the seeds (about 10 large passion fruit)
ice bath for cooling the syrup quickly

In a large saucepan combine the sugar and water and allow to come to a boil. Boil the water and sugar together on low heat for five minutes. Add the passion fruit pulp and simmer for one minute. The short cooking time for the pulp is necessary to preserve the delicate and complex flavor of the passion fruit. After one minute remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into a fresh bowl. Place the bowl with the passion fruit mixture over an ice bath and stir until cooled. After the mixture is cooled, place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl to collect the strained mixture. Press the mixture and the seeds to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the seeds, and pour the syrup into a container. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use. The syrup should last up to one month in refrigeration and can be frozen if desired.

The finished passion fruit syrup.

Passion fruit syrup is used to make the famous Hurricane cocktail.