How to Hand Pollinate Passion Fruit Vine - Passiflora edulis

Passion Fruit Ice Cream with Mora Syrup Topping

This flavor combination is wildly delicious! Passion fruit is highly aromatic, and Mora Andina (Rubus glaucus) is delicious. Sadly, Rubus glaucus has not grown well in Florida. It grows at higher elevations, closer to the equator in Ecuador, Columbia, and other tropical countries with elevation. It prefers cooler temps, but no freezes. Thankfully, the pulp can be purchased frozen at many locations. In Ecuador, it was sold by the pound in plastic bags. 

Passion Fruit Ice Cream 

2 1/2 c. milk
1 c. passion fruit pulp (without seeds)
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. sugar

In a bowl, whisk ingredients together and then chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Place ingredients in ice cream maker or stir every 30 minutes in the freezer. Store extra ice cream in airtight container in the freezer.

Mora Syrup/Ice Cream topping

1 package frozen Mora Pulp
1 c. sugar

Heat in a sauce pan until slightly thickened. Cool and store in glass jar in the refrigerator.

How To: Freeze Passion Fruit

Passion Fruit pulp freezes nicely. 

Scoop the pulp/seeds into a blender...

Blend the pulp for 15 seconds...then strain out the seeds.  

Pour strained pulp into ice cube trays and freeze. 

 Once frozen, pop out and store the passion fruit cubes in an airtight container or ziplock bag. 

The fruit shells should go into the compost...

We are using an old stainless steel washing machine drum, buried in the ground for a compost bin. 

Passion Fruit Ice Cream

If you are looking for a prolific fruit plant to grow in the southern half of Florida, Passion Fruit is very rewarding. This is what we gathered over the past two days. It is important to check under the vine once or twice a day as passion fruit should not be picked, but rather fallen fruit should be gathered to ensure ripeness. The variety of passion fruit that we sell bares fruit year round. Mid- February, we gather over 25 fruits per day. 

Passion fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

For extended storage, the pulp can be scooped out and frozen in containers or ice cube trays. 

8 medium sized fruits will yield about a cup of pulp without seeds. 

To separate the seeds from the pulp, simply blend the pulp (with seeds) for a 15 seconds. Use a mesh strainer to strain out the seeds. Use the back of a spoon to press the pulp through. You can add a small amount of water to get the last bits of pulp through the strainer. The pulp can be used to make many things - syrup, jelly, ice cream, and more.

Passion Fruit Ice Cream  - eggless!

2 1/2 c. milk
1 c. passion fruit pulp (without seeds)
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. sugar

In a bowl, whisk ingredients together and then chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Place ingredients in ice cream maker or stir every 30 minutes in the freezer. Store extra ice cream in airtight container in the freezer.

18 Months Later...

Before we moved into our home, we planted a fruit tree....We knew we wanted to have a yard filled with edible landscaping. Some trees will take a few years to produce fruit, while others, are very quick to produce a bounty of delicious delicacies. 

This was the fence with our passion vine 18 months ago when we first planted it...notice the small amount of leaves on the top of the left side of the fence. Our banana plants had just been planted for a few months. 

This is 12 months later...we were beginning to receive several passion fruits each day that ripened and dropped to the ground. So far this year, this plant has produced hundreds of fruit.

And the bananas.....

Oh, the bananas!!!

 Our bananas have received water from a drip system along with a thick layer of mulch, ash from burning fallen limbs, and a covering of banana peels and cut banana leaves. The cultivars we currently grow are namwah, apple, raja puri, giant plantain, orinoco, saba, dwarf cavendish, and the most delicious mystery banana. The namwah banana has been the most prolific, sending up over 20 new plants and producing two huge bunches of bananas. All of our varieties have produced large bunches of fruit this year except for the Saba which was planted a few months ago.

We have small plants available from all of the varieties listed.

Passion Fruit Juice

Passion Fruit is a wonderful plant to grow in Florida. Not only is it easy to grow on a fence, but the flowers are beautiful and the fruit of the edible varieties can be used to make juices, ice creams, and sorbets. 

The vines do best when planted on a mounded plateau at least 6" above the normal soil level in a sunny area either on a wire fence, at the base of a tree, or with poles put in the ground in a teepee shape. Mulch well, water, and provide compost or organic fertilizer 2-4 times per year.

It is best to wait until the fruit falls to the ground before using. Be sure to check for fruits daily, as raccoons will quickly discover fallen fruit that is more than a day old. Freshly fallen fruit is smooth, but will become wrinkly as soon as 12 hours after falling. Don't worry, the fruit is still fine to eat as long as there are no holes in the outer skin.

To remove the pulp, cut the fruit in half and scoop out the yellow pulp and black seeds. The seeds are not toxic and do not need to be separated prior to blending. Some people enjoy eating the pulp fresh and either eating the seeds along with it or spitting them out after separating it from the pulp. 8-10 average size passion fruits will yield about 1 cup of pulp with seeds. We generally process 4 cups at a time. Once the seeds are strained out, we are left with 3 1/2 cups of passion fruit pulp.

Recipe: To make passion fruit juice, place the pulp/seeds from 10 passion fruits into a blender. Add 4 cups of water and 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar. Blend thoroughly. Strain to remove the seed fragments. You can add more pulp or more or less water according to your tastes. 

Enjoy!