Passion Fruit Ice Cream

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

When it comes to summertime desserts, none are as luxurious or refreshing as a scoop of frosty homemade ice cream. This super simple recipe comes together in mere minutes, leaving your ice cream maker to do the bulk of the work.

Made in the American style, this tart passion fruit ice cream recipe is made without any eggs, meaning there’s no fussy tempering. Simply mix up your ice cream base ingredients, set them to heat in a saucepan, then let it chill before spinning. Oh, and in total, you only need 5 ingredients! How great is that?!

Aside from requiring less kitchen know-how than other ice cream recipes, you’ll also cut way back on the dishes using this extra easy technique. I consider that a serious win-win! After all, summer days are meant to be spent in the sunshine, not over the sink.

So, let’s get to the kitchen and start making this creamy, dreamy lilikoi ice cream, shall we? You’ll be so happy you did.

In love with passion fruit and looking for more passion fruit recipes to try? Start with making your own passion fruit puree, passion fruit juice and a tropical passion fruit margarita!

🍴Ingredients

This recipe for passion fruit ice cream has a highly abbreviated ingredient list. Here’s everything you’ll need:

• Heavy Cream & Whole Milk - We’re aiming for a ration of 2 parts cream to 1 part milk. As such, you can swap in 2 cups of half-n-half and 1 cup of cream. You can also add melted unsalted butter to either regular milk or half-n-half to make a spot-on cream substitute.
• Sugar - For a brighter color, you’ll want to make sure to use granulated sugar. For a darker hue in the end, but a nice caramelly flavor to play against the tart sweetness of the passionfruit, feel free to swap in brown sugar, coconut sugar, or grated jaggery or piloncillo.
• Salt - You only need the littlest bit of seasoning to brighten up all the flavors in this ice cream.
• Passion Fruit Curd - I used homemade curd made with passion fruit puree, which takes just 5 ingredients and about 20 minutes of active time to make. You can also easily use a store-bought version instead.
• Fresh Passion Fruit Pulp - While this is technically optional, passionfruit pulp adds a lovely textural dimension and a bright dose of fruity flavor to the ice cream when you serve it.

⏲️ Substitutions & Variations

I think this passionfruit ice cream recipe is pretty perfect, but there’s still room for customization. Here are a few options to consider:

• Swap in a different curd. This ice cream base will work great with any kind of fruit curd like lemon, lime, mango, or berry. Feel free to experiment with different flavor combinations to find which one you’ll like best!
• Make it dairy-free. Use a high-fat type of non-dairy milk for the best, creamiest results. I prefer canned coconut milk or refrigerated almond or cashew milk in place of milk, as well as coconut cream (not to be confused with sweetened cream of coconut) in place of the heavy cream.
• Make it vegan. Follow the instructions above to make the dairy-free ice cream base, then swap in vegan fruit curd (normal curd is made with both egg yolks and butter).

⚒️ Equipment

Contrary to what you might think, homemade ice cream doesn’t require a bunch of specialty equipment. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Heavy-Bottomed Saucepan - Every kitchen needs a saucepan, and having a heavy bottom means your pan will heat more evenly and prevent scorching. 
• Soft Spatula - A silicone spatula will make sure you get every last possible bite of scoopable goodness into the freezer for later.
• Ice Cream Maker - For most home cooks (myself included) making an easy ice cream recipe, a Cuisinart ice cream machine with a freezable drum (the most affordable model) is absolutely sufficient. If you’re planning on being very gung-ho about making your own frozen desserts, consider upgrading to a compressor model, which can be used straight from the cabinet, no freezing required.
• Freezer-Safe Container - As much as I love them for most other uses, most budget tupperware and delitainers are made of a type of plastic that becomes brittle under exposure to extreme cold. To keep your ice cream from getting accidental shards of plastic in it, I suggest using an airtight container specifically created for freezing.- As much as I love them for most other uses, most budget tupperware and delitainers are made of a type of plastic that becomes brittle under exposure to extreme cold. To keep your ice cream from getting accidental shards of plastic in it, I suggest using a container specifically created for freezing.

NOTE: If you’re not ready to take the financial plunge of buying another kitchen appliance, try using one of these methods for making the passion fruit ice cream without one. 

📖 Step by Step Instructions

You’ll be shocked how uncomplicated it is to make homemade ice cream bursting with passion fruit flavor. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Make Base. Add the first 4 ingredients into a medium saucepan at medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, mixing constantly with a spatula. Pour into a clean container and place in the fridge to cool for a minimum of 4 hours.

Step 2: Churn. Once cool, add the mixture to your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer directions. It should churn for about 15-30 minutes depending on your model.

Step 3: Add Flavor. When the ice cream base is starting to look good and frosty, almost ready for the freezer, add the passion fruit curd and churn until incorporated. Churn Ice cream for about 10-15 minutes before moving on.

Step 4: Freeze & Serve. Pour churned ice cream into a freezer-safe container and freeze overnight to harden before enjoying! in a pinch, you can use a loaf pan with plastic wrap if that's all you have. Top with passion fruit pulp if desired and enjoy!

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Don’t rush the freezing step. After churning, I totally understand the impulse to dive right in and start scooping. Please, refrain yourself. If you give your homemade ice cream a solid 4-8 hours in the freezer before scooping, you’ll end up with a much more desirable consistency. 
• Cool your ice cream mixture down more quickly using an ice bath. If you don’t want to break up your ice cream making into multiple days (or wait the full 4 hours before pouring your mixture into the ice cream maker), take a page from ice cream whiz Jeni Britton Bauer and cool it down with an ice bath. Pour your hot mixture into a gallon-sized zip top bag and zip the top tight. Submerge it into a bowl filled with very icy water, agitating it as needed. It should chill enough to use in just 20 minutes. Maracuya ice cream pairs beautifully with: 

• Coconut, mango, or other tropically-inspired desserts
• Waffle cones, sugar cones, or cake cones
• Shortbread or White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
• Meringues
• Coconut caramel sauce

💭 Recipe FAQs

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