Refreshing and delightfully tangy, this passion fruit ice cream makes a sensational summer treat.
The past few months have been intense for me working on a dozen of projects simultaneously. I still have quite a few more to finish but didn't want National Ice Month to pass without sharing one of my all time favorite ice creams, passion fruit ice cream! In previous years when I held ice cream socials, people loved this flavor along with the Vietnamese coffee and Earl grey. The heat has killed most of my passion fruit vines but they still provided a decent supply to make a couple batches through the summer.
Tips for Making Ice Cream
When making the custard, keep the heat low and gentle otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled egg. Pay attention to the consistency as the base cooks and goes from liquid to a thin soup like texture. You can test for readiness by dipping a spatula into the base, running your finger across the spatula to see if the path created by your finger holds for a few seconds. If the base doesn’t start running down the spatula, the custard is ready. I used passion fruit pulps and strained the base to remove any solids. Refrigerate the custard overnight for the flavor to develop.
How Long to Freeze Ice Cream
Churn the ice cream until you get a soft serve consistency. Freeze the ice cream for a minimum of 4 hours.
The passion fruit ice cream was so refreshing with its delightfully tangy flavor. I like to serve the ice cream with fresh passion fruit pulp for additional texture from the seeds. This flavor takes me right back to my childhood in Vietnam where my family would head to the ice cream parlor and devour all the tropical ice creams like coconut, jackfruit, lychee, durian, and passion fruit after dinner to cool down.
For more ice cream inspiration, check out these recipes: balsamic cherry goat cheese ice cream, fig goat cheese crumble ice cream, mulberry crumble ice cream, and roasted strawberry balsamic ice cream.
Passion Fruit Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup passion fruit pulp and extra for serving
Instructions
- In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up and whisk in ¼ cup sugar. Set aside.
- Combine cream, milk, passion fruit, and remaining sugar in a large saucepan. Put the pan over medium heat and let the mixture boil gently to bubbling just around the edges (gentle simmer). Reduce the heat to low.
- Carefully measure out ½ cup of hot cream mixture. Whisk in the hot cream mixture while whisking the eggs constantly. Continue tempering the eggs by adding another ½ cup of hot cream to the bowl with the yolks.
- Pour the cream-egg mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it is thickened and coats the back of a spatula, about 15 minutes.
- Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container.
- Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziplock freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in an ice bath until cold, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate the ice cream base for at least 2 hours or overnight. I like to refrigerate the base overnight for the most flavor.
- Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Spin until thick and creamy about 25-30 minutes.
- Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
- Serve with fresh passion fruit pulp if desired.
lisa
i think step2 is to mix cream+ milk+pulp and then boil it. it could get confusing for a first timer. should they boil the egg yolk+ sugar mixture or the rest of the ingredients.
Vy Tran
Hi Lisa! Thank you for your feedback! The first boil is to warm up the cream, milk, and passion fruit mixture to temper the eggs. Everything goes back in the pan and cooked to form the ice cream custard. I will do a separate post for a basic ie cream recipe with all the process steps in the future.
Kelly
When do you add the rest of the sugar? This recipe seems to be missing steps. Can you please elaborate?
Vy Tran
Hi Kelly! Thank you for catching this. It was in step 2 when you combine the remaining ingredients.
Joy
Amazing flavor! Tangy but so good!
Lisa
This might be my favorite tropical ice cream recipe!
Jaci
Can I use passion fruit purée instead? Same amount?
Vy Tran
Hi Jaci! Yes, you can substitute with passion fruit puree, same amount.
Elizabeth Eckley
HI, I made the mixture, but do not have any ice cream maker, what now?
Vy Tran
Hi Elizabeth! Stir together the ice cream mixture and chill it if it isn’t cold already. Pour it into a large baking dish. Place it in the freezer for 90 minutes. Remove from the freezer and whisk the mixture, scraping the sides of the pan and breaking up any frozen chunks. Return the pan to the freezer. Freeze for 60 minutes. Remove from the freezer and whisk the mixture again, scraping the sides of the pan well. Freeze and repeat 2 more times.
Kristina
Really stellar recipe! Thanks so much for sharing it- passion fruit is my favorite. I added a pinch of salt, but otherwise made it according to your instructions. I've got some frozen guava pulp taking up space in my freezer and think I'll try your recipe with it.
Vy Tran
I'm so happy you liked the recipe. Passion fruit is one of my favorites too. Sadly our passion fruit plants died. We'll have to plant some new vines so we can make the ice cream. Guava sounds divine. I've just come back from Vietnam and had a lot of guava desserts. Will definitely experiment with guava and post new recipes.
James Bowyer
Exceptional recipe.
Vy Tran
thank you so much!
Erin
Can I use coconut milk instead of regular milk here?
sgadmin
Hi Erin! My apologies for the late reply. We've been out of the country. You could use coconut milk but the texture will be more icy!
Sara Brown
I have been using this recipe for 2 years now and it a my favorite passion fruit dessert! So creamy and delicious- and simple to make!
I pulse the passion fruit pulp in the blender to separate the seeds out easier in the strainer. No need to strain it again. I also keep 1/2 cup of pulp to add to the ce cream base right when I begin making it in the ice cream maker. The seeds add a little texture and pop! So yummy!