bouquets and baguettes

My latest food find is the exotic passion fruit. I happen to have a passion fruit vine where I live, and it has been dropping fruit like crazy! I have consumed more passion fruit in the last month than I have in my whole life! Honestly, when I first saw the vine, I had no idea what kind of plant it was. It was covered in gorgeous whispy, purple/ombre flowers and these strange green fruit I had not seen before. Naturally, I had to research to find out what in the world this vine was. (Mostly because I wanted to know if I could eat the fruit or not:) )

Once I discovered that the fruit on this vine was passion fruit, I could not wait to eat them! I also learned that you have to be patient when it comes to this fruit. Don’t pick the green ones, because they do not ripen off the vine. (Made that mistake). How do you know when the passion fruit are ready to eat? The plant does all the work for you- the fruit turns purple, and they fall to the ground! Soooo easy to harvest, since all you have to do is pick them up off the ground, and they are guaranteed to be perfectly ready to eat, every time!

Passion fruit has an exotic, tangy, just barely floral taste. Think of a flavor cross between a citrus fruit and a mango. It is almost too complex to describe, so you must try it for yourself, or just imagine taking a bite of Brazil/Paraguay/Argentina, which is the native territory of this zippy fruit. Leave it to our South American friends to have a fruit named passion fruit. One bite makes you wanna dance! 🙂

Passion fruit is a good source of fiber (important for satiety, regularity, fighting a slew of health problems like not-so-great cholesterol), and is a low calorie fruit option, as well. A lot of the passion fruit recipes floating around out there (heyyyy, Pinterest) are for high calorie, sugary desserts, like rich mousses, panna cottas, cakes, and pavlovas. I wanted to showcase a way to use passion fruit in a dessert that has no sugar added, is fat free, and fits all dietary needs (gluten free, vegan, dairy-free, etc). This is a treat that could be enjoyed everyday because it is just that clean when it comes to the ingredients.  Time to dive into Roasted Banana Passion Fruit Ice Dream!

“Ice Dream” is the name I’m giving this dessert, because it’s just like ice cream, but of course there is no cream, milk, or dairy of any kind. Plus, it tastes like a dream, so there’s that. 🙂 What takes this recipe over the edge is roasting the bananas. Please, I’m begging you, don’t skip this step! That caramel-y, toasty, sweet flavor you might know and love from Bananas Foster totally carries into this Ice Dream when the bananas hang out in the oven for a bit and develop a deep sweetness you just can’t get from a plain ol’ banana. Whip this up on a hot day, or when you are craving a scoop of creamy goodness. Prepare to be transported to a tropical locale!

Roasted Banana Passion Fruit Ice Dream

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4 bananas
• 1/3 cup passion fruit (both the juice and seeds from inside the fruit)

Directions:

• Slice bananas into coins, and place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Roast at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until caramelized.
• Transfer the banana to the freezer for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
• Add banana and passionfruit to a high speed blender, and blend on the ice cream setting, or on high for 20-30 seconds.
• Enjoy right away with toppings of your choice (I recommend cacao nibs and toasted coconut), or place in freezer for 10-20 minutes if you prefer a more firm frozen dessert texture.

Have you ever tried passion fruit before? Any other mysterious or exotic fruit you are dying to experiment with in the kitchen? Let me know!

XO, Alexandra