Passion fruit: what it is and property

Passion fruit, maracuja, granadilla: they are different names to identify very similar fruits, more often united under the name of " passion fruit ". All three fruits derive from plants of the Passifloracee family, they are very similar, but are distinguished by small differences.

The passion fruit, or passion fruit, has a round shape and the size of a lemon, has purple and smooth rind, with green streaks. When it is ripe the skin becomes thinner, and the pulp becomes soft: this is a good way to choose the right time to buy the passion fruit. The pulp is gelatinous and sprinkled with seeds, the taste is as sweet as the fruit is more mature .

Maracuja instead, although resembling the passion fruit, can be either purple or yellow. The pulp is similar to that of the passion fruit, in general that of the yellow skin fruit is richer in water and juice.

Granadilla is the name that takes the fruit from the elliptical shape and from the orange or yellow peel, smooth and with small lighter spots. It is the fruit with the sweetest pulp of the three.

Three recipes with passion fruit

Passion fruit is a fresh fruit, rich in water, suitable for the summer season, also thanks to its refreshing and remineralizing properties. It has potassium, zinc and vitamin C, as well as beta-carotene. The particular flavor makes the passion fruit suitable for smoothie recipes and as an ingredient for desserts.

Re-mineralizing smoothie

The summer season allows you to take advantage of the passion fruit in smoothies, fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies. The passion fruit goes well with other exotic fruits, such as mango and papaya.

The gelatinous pulp rich in seeds makes it perfect to be added to fruit with a creamy pulp . Just cut two ripe passion fruits in half, extract the pulp and seeds with a teaspoon, excellent for intestinal mobility, and add them to the blender with a peeled and sliced ​​mango.

You can adjust the taste to your liking, adding vegetable milk or other fruit juice, more or less acid or dole and depending on your preference.

Passion fruit cheesecake

The cheescake is a cold dessert that is pleasantly consumed even in winter . A variation of the classic forest fruit cheescake is the one that involves the use of the passion fruit.

Ingredients:

> 250 g of dry wholemeal biscuits;

> 25 g of coconut oil;

> 25 g of soy butter;

> 3 passion fruits;

> 200 ml of soy yogurt;

> 100 g of vegetable cream (soya) to be whipped.

Chop the biscuits in a mixer until they are reduced to not too fine crumbs . Then add the coconut oil and the soy butter dissolved in a bain-marie. The mixture must be malleable and mellow. This will become the basis for the cheesecake.

Then spread it on the bottom of a baking dish and compact it well with the pressure of your hands, for a homogeneous height of about one or two centimeters. Put to rest in the fridge for 1 hour .

Meanwhile prepare the creamy part : whip the soy cream and add it to the yogurt. Usually the soy cream is already sweet, and even the yogurt is often already sweetened, so in the recipe we don't add any more sugar . If instead you use ingredients without added sugar, put two tablespoons of brown sugar in the cream to be whipped.

Pay attention that the whipped cream does not disassemble, stirring gently from bottom to top, and absorbing the yogurt a little at a time. Pour all over the base and put it back in the fridge to rest for another hour.

Finally, prepare the passion fruit topping: blend the fruit pulp, together with a little water, and two lemon drops . It must be a creamy consistency, like a jam.

The pulp of the fruit is spread over the cake and can be eaten after resting for at least 2 hours .

Panna cotta with passion fruit

Ingredients for 4 people:

> 500 ml of vegetable milk: soy, oats, coconut, or other;

> 1 tablespoon of agar agar;

> 50 g of cane sugar;

> vanilla, a quarter of a berry;

> 1 passion fruit.

Cut the passion fruit and mix it with a little vegetable cream. Make sure that a thick and smooth cream is formed . Divide the result then into four panna cotta molds and refrigerate.

Melt the agar agar powder in half a glass of milk. Put the rest in a small saucepan with the sugar and heat over low heat. If the vegetable milk is already sweetened, reduce the amount of sugar to prevent it from becoming too sweet.

Then add the milk with agar agar and stir. Remove the vanilla seeds and place them in the milk. Heat over low heat until it thickens, always stirring constantly. After about 5 minutes the consistency should be that of a cream. Pour into the molds where you had previously placed the passion fruit, and put it in the fridge for 5 hours. Once ready, turn upside down and enjoy your meal .

Photo. Elena Shashkina / 123rf.com