Growing up I didn’t drink sodas that much. I always had homemade lemonade, orange juice, apple and passion fruit juice. We even made homemade ice pops called “marcianos” , one of my favorite parts of Summer.
Passion Fruit is native to Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru (South American countries). I think this fruit is pretty popular in the Philippines too . The list of health benefits commonly attributed to passion fruit is due to the nutrient, mineral, and vitamin content of the fruit, which includes antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, fiber, and protein.
I always find passion fruit at Hispanic supermarkets. I buy it frozen, you can get the pulp with/without the seeds. Other names for passion fruit are : maracuya, parcha, lilikoʻi , etc.
This cheesecake is perfect for warm days, it’s not very sweet and the fruity flavor makes you want to spend the day in a tropical beach.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales . I always post all the videos of the desserts I make. If you make this recipe, let me know!
Ready to bake? Let’s start with the recipe!
Ingredients
For the crust:
3 cups of vanilla animal crackers (you decide how thick you want the crust, I like it thick).
6 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar
For the cheesecake
24 oz of regular cream cheese
1 1/4 cup of condensed milk
3 medium eggs
1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons of passion fruit juice
For the topping
1/2 cup of passion fruit juice (without seeds).
1/4 cup of passion fruit juice (with seeds)
4 tablespoons of white granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin
Instructions
For the crust
1.- Heat oven to 400 F. Grease a 9 inch Springform Pan.
2.- Cut a large single sheet of aluminum foil, making sure that it is wide enough to surround all sides of your springform pan. Wrap the pan, making sure the sides of the pan are fully covered by the foil.
3.- Pulse together the animal crackers, sugar and butter (little by little) until it has the texture of coarse brown sugar, if you need more butter, don’t hesitate to use more.
4.- Pour into the grease pan and press against the bottom to make an even crust.
5.- Bake for 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
6.- Remove from the oven and let it cool.
For the cheesecake
1.- Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.
2.- Pour cream cheese into mixer, beat for about 5 minutes until creamy. Add condense milk and eggs and beat with paddle attachment for 5 minutes, occasionally remove the mix stuck to the side using a spatula. At the end it should be thoroughly mixed. Important: Scrape bowl down between additions because if you do not, you’ll end up with unmixed stripes of cream cheese. I always find at least one, oops!
3.- Add passionfruit juice, beat for another 3 minutes. Pour into the springform pan, smoothing it out with a spatula.
4.- Place the cake pan in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes halfway (about 1 inch) up the side of the springform ( water won’t come in because you wrap the pan with foil paper). Bake until the edge is light golden brown and the center barely jiggles, about 1 1/4 hours. If the cake still feels soft around the edge, let it bake for 10 minutes more. Turn of the oven and let it sit there for 20 minutes, then remove the cheesecake from the water bath, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 2 hours (just walk away—don’t move it). Then, leave the cake in the pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely cold before serving, preferably overnight or for at least 6 hours.
For the topping
1.- Put the half of the passion fruit juice in a medium bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Don’t stir. Set aside until the gelatin “foams”, about 1 minute. Warm the remaining passion fruit juice (with seeds) and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Whisk the hot juice into the gelatin mixture until smooth. Refrigerate until just begins to set, about 20 minutes.
2.- Pour over the top of the cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
3.-Serve and enjoy!
