Lilikoi Cheesecake – Day Two – Lilikoi Curd
Today, I’m going to give you a little background on Lilikoi – or as you may know it, Passion Fruit.
I remember eating it as a kid. I would scoop the center out and then spit the seeds out. It’s a very common fruit in Hawaii, but it is a bit labor intensive to prepare with all of the seeds inside.
The Lilikoi grow on huge vines that creep up other trees and just go all over. A friend took me out on her farm to pick them with me and teach me all about them. We walked out into a big field full of Macadamia nut trees. The lilikoi grow up the trees and just creep all over. As the fruit ripens, they just drop to the ground and you go around picking them up.
As you can see, the outer flesh is very thick, so even if it looks beat up, the inside is usually protected. There were a lot of eaten fruit on the ground and it turns out that the local wild pigs come through eating the dropped fruit and nuts.
We collected a 5 gallon bucket of fruit and got about 6 cups of juice from it.
This curd is very similar to lemon curd. It’s sweet and amazing on just about anything.
I’m bringing 3 cups of frozen juice home so I can make more! As I said, it’s work to remove all of the seeds. You can do it similarly as removing seeds from raspberries; just pressing the juice through a fine sieve and discarding the seeds. My friend used her Ninja and it didn’t pulverize the seeds.
If you ever make it to Hawaii, you’ve got to try Lilikoi. They have it in ice cream, fudge, cheesecakes, bars, toppings, and most likely a few more desserts I haven’t seen…
Cook time:
Total time:
- 4 cups Sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup Butter
- 1.5 - 2 cups Lilikoi Juice
- Mix all the ingredients with a whisk in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.
- Pour into a quart container and cool before refrigerating.
I love lilikoi. I had to check out this post because you called it lilikoi and you don’t hear that much outside of Hawaii. I scoop out the inside and put it in my smoothies some times (I leave the seeds in for fiber). I’m jealous you were able to get so many I’ll have to make friends with someone who has lilikoi vines (I live in the city so no place to grow them…although I have a small vine in a container it just doesn’t have the room to grow big enough but I’ve gotten a couple flowers on it…I also have to remember to water it). I’m pinning.
I was born and raised in Hawaii and it was so nice to go back and have a great experience with a new friend. She was lucky to get to go on to the neighbors property and pick so many off the ground. However, the wild pigs got their pick first.