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 or supermarkets like Kroger or Walmart. 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.
Ready to bake? Let’s start with the recipe!
Yield one 9-inch pan (Springform pan)
Ingredients
For the crust:
2 cups of crushed animal crackers or graham crackers
6-8 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar
For the cheesecake
24 oz of regular cream cheese
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
3 medium eggs at room temperature
1/2 -3/4 cup of passion fruit juice. You will have to taste how stronger you want the flavor to be, for passion fruit you have to be careful, if you add too much it can be bitter. I used 3/4 cup.
For the topping
1/2 cup of passion fruit juice
1/4 cup of passion fruit juice or water
4 tablespoons of white granulated sugar
1 and 1/4 teaspoons 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.- In a small bowl, mix animal cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. The mixture should look like wet sand. Pour this into your prepared pan and press against the bottom to make an even crust.
4.- Bake for 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
5.- Remove from the oven and let it cool while you make the cheesecake batter.
For the cheesecake
1.- Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.
2.- Pour cream cheese into mixer, beat for about 5 minutes until creamy. Add condensed milk and eggs (one by one) 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 chunks of cream cheese.
3.- Add passionfruit juice, beat for another 2 minutes. Pour into your 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 wrapped 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 cheesecake 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 for at least 6 hours or overnight.
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/water 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.
Optional: You can decorate with whipped cream and cherries.
3.-Serve and enjoy!