PUT YOUR PASSION WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

PASSION FRUIT

What’s the most romantic fruit? Passion fruit, of course! While strawberries and cherries are the fruits most often associated with romance, making edible appearances on Valentine’s Day, weddings, anniversaries, and date nights, passion fruits are all about passion!

Passion fruits begin with the most glorious flowers, growing on Passiflora edulis vine. They are among the most intricate complex flower structures and, while they appear delicate, the are quite hardy, growing wild and free in Brazil, Columbia, South Africa, Australia, and other tropical regions. Passion fruit flower is the national flower of Paraguay.

The sensual smooth egg-shaped passion fruits have a unique floral scent. Once they ripen and wrinkle slightly, cut them open to get to the juicy translucent yellow-orange pulp, flecked with soft edible black seeds.

Spoon passion fruit right into your mouth to enjoy its highly distinctive sweet-tart flavor. Or spoon it over yogurt, ice cream, fruit salads, cakes, and more. Beyond delicious, nutrients and phytochemicals in passion fruits help keep your body beautiful, healthy, and ready for romance too! We’ve got some beautiful ideas for you below.

Passion flowers look like they come from another planet. They dazzle the eye and spark imagination. There is no clue, from their mind-boggling structure, that they will be yielding such beautiful fruits and such powerhouse flavor and nutrition.

Passion fruits contain 13 different carotenoids and non-nutritive phytochemicals, which help the body in producing vitamin A. The fat-soluble carotenoids in the fruit, enable better absorption of vitamin A.

There are 50 varieties of passion fruit. Passion fruits vary in size, ranging from size of an egg to the size of a grapefruit. They come in two colors: purple (edulis) and yellow (flavicarpa). The purple ones are the sweeter, juicier, and more fragrant of the two.

We love eat passion fruit in its purest form. We love to drink passion fruit juice, either on its own, mixed with other juices, and in cocktails. And we love it in all kinds of sweet and savory recipes.

Passion fruit is rich in antioxidants, to keep you looking and feeling fresh and sexy. It is also rich Vitamins C and B. Vitamin K in passion fruit helps with wound healing and regeneration. And passion fruits are high in calcium and magnesium, which strengthen bones.

Potassium and sodium in passion fruit helps to regulate electrolytes and water balance. Iron helps to regulate the transportation of oxygen throughout the body. Passion fruit’s fiber content aids digestion. Passion fruit seeds contain unsaturated fatty acids which offer cardiovascular system support.

If you want to be in passion fruit heaven, check out “Passion Fruit Cream Tartlets,” by Rosie Newton and Dillon Sivyour of The Hungry Herbivores. Lush and rich sweet cream is graced with tart passion fruit puree. You will be both delighted and fooled -- It’s vegan, made from silken tofu, and it’s gluten-free -- the crust is made from GF oats, almonds, coconut and agave.

Get the recipe here.

PAVLOVA WITH PASSIONFRUIT CURD AND STRAWBERRIES

“Pavlova with Passionfruit Curd & Strawberries,” by Helen Tzouganatos, of Hungry & Fussy, is like a celestial cloud of ethereal sweet

Pavlova, an iconic Australian meringue dessert features a crisp meringue base with a light and fluffy center, topped with intensely flavored zesty passionfruit curd, topped with fresh berries. Get the recipe here.

PASSIONFRUIT CHEESECAKE WITH PASSIONFRUIT SYRUP

Tzouganatos also works magic with her “Passionfruit Cheesecake with Passionfruit Syrup,” a perfect hybrid between dense creamy New York style and light fluffy Italian style cheesecakes, made with both cream cheese and ricotta cheese.

The filling is velvety smooth. It is divine! And it’s gluten-free, with a crust made from almond meal and shredded coconut. The zesty homemade passion fruit syrup is a perfect foil to every creamy mouthful.

Get the recipe here.

Read more about Beautiful Passions in The Most Beautiful Passion Place, Pretty Passions! Most Beautiful Lingerie Now, Passion Rules!, Passion For WildAid Passion for Galapagos! and Animal Passion & Romance.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Fpalli. “Fleur et fruits géants de barbadine.” Passiflora quadrangularis (Barbadine).
2. Image: by Nico Nelson. “Passiflora edulis.”
3. Image: by Stijn Nieuwendijk. “Passion fruit.”
4. Image: by THOR. “Passion Fruit Breakfast.”
5. Image: by CFB@F. “Passion Fruit with Passion Bar, ate with passion.”
6. Image: by Rosie Newton and Dillon Sivyour of The Hungry Herbivores. “Passion Fruit Cream Tartlets.” Courtesy of One Green Planet.
7. Image: by Helen Tzouganatos, of Hungry & Fussy. “Pavlova with Passionfruit Curd & Strawberries.”
8. Image: by Helen Tzouganatos, of Hungry & Fussy. “Baked Passionfruit Cheesecake Gluten Free.”
9. Image: by Helen Tzouganatos, of Hungry & Fussy. “Baked Passionfruit Cheesecake Gluten Free.”
10. Image: by Random McRandomhead. Passionfruit flower.
11. Image: by Ze'ev Barkan. “Flower that looks like a Sculpture.”
12. Image: by David Joyce. Passion flower.