When is passionfruit ripe?
But first, when is passion fruit ready to eat? Passion fruit is ripe when it looks bright and plump. It will give a little when gently squeezed. If your passionfruit is wrinkled, it’s very ripe and will taste sweeter than smooth-skinned passionfruit.
How to eat passionfruit
1. Weigh it
To pick the best passionfruit, look for plump and smooth fruit that’s heavy for its size – it will have more pulp inside.
2. Crack it open
Did you know you can open passionfruit with your bare hands? Place the passionfruit between your palms, clasp your fingers together and push your palms towards each other to break the passion fruit skin, then pry it open with your fingers. You can either transfer the pulp to a bowl or eat it straight from the skin with a spoon. Watch out for the juice!
3. Freeze it for later
Make the most of the summer harvest (or January flush) by buying up big and freezing your passion fruit for later. You can freeze the fruit whole, or preserve passionfruit.
Better Homes and Gardens Food Editor Sarah Murphy says the best way to preserve passionfruit it to scoop the pulp into ice trays for freezing.
"When passionfruit are in season and great value, it’s the perfect time to plan ahead to save this tangy, delicious fruit for later," she says.
"Simply remove the pulp from the fruit, and freeze in ice-cube trays. Freezing in ice-cube trays mean you have perfectly portioned frozen passionfruit for later to pop in smoothies or defrost and use in your favourite cakes or bikkies. Once frozen, you can remove from the ice-cube trays and simply pop the frozen blocks in a freezer-safe bag or container to grab when needed."
4. Snack on it
One serving of passionfruit (two fruits) is a good source of fibre (5g), a source of vitamin C (11mg) and low in kilojoules. What better reason to reach for a passionfruit as a sweet snack.
5. Cook with it
Adding Aussie Passionfruit to your dish is a simple way of turning ordinary to extraordinary. With its sweet tangy flavour and bright colour, there’s no better way to top off your dish than with a splash of passion!
Here are 20 of BHG's best passionfruit recipes to get you started.
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