The Passion of Maracujá

Passion Fruit - Maracujá

(Passiflora edulis)

Maracujá Flower

A pile of maracujás found in the mato (forest).

The vines, with distinct 3-lobed leaves, climb through the shade of the mato and into the canopy of a tree. The maracujá integrates itself into the tree top like a thread in a delicately woven fabric. The large fruits drop to the ground when ripe and, just like an easter egg hunt, we rummage around looking for them.

My first glance at a pile of wrinkled, brown, dried, flaky passion fruits in the grocery store had me confused. Whoa, those all look bad. But no! The thick walls of the fruit keep the passion inside safe. Plus, the weight decreases as the wall dries making it less expensive.

Slice into one and scoop that passion out!

With our piles of maracujás we will give some away and with the rest make passion fruit concentrate. We use the grungiest looking first. Even in their dire looks only a few are truly spoiled.

The colors range from dark orange to yellow. All are hard to resist.

We soak the fruit in water for a couple of hours to loosen the pulp and juice from the seed. After the soak, we toss them into the blender and give them a good spin until you hear seeds hitting the blades. The mess is passed through a sieve and poured into containers.

Maracujá seeds are a natural soporific. For a good night of sleep drink the last bit of chopped up seeds.

Ben and I believe this may be the easiest juice concentrate to make.

Maracujá concentrate sealed and frozen in handy containers.

Just pull one out and throw it in the blender with some water and presto! Refreshing passion fruit juice. Another use is to make maracujá mousse. Simple and quick, this desert is a fluffy delectable treat.

Fresh Maracujá Juice


Light and Fluffy Mousse.