When you’re a kid, summers are a magical adventure-filled time. I was fortunate to grow up next door to two wonderful friends. Our backyards shared a long wood fence covered in purple morning glories and passion fruit vines. Climbing over that fence was our favorite way to move between houses – after all, front doors are super overrated when you’re 9 years old. To this day, the sight of the alien-like passion fruit flowers instantly transports me back to those carefree summer days of lemonade stands and playing chase.
As we we’re in peak passion fruit season (July to September), it’s the perfect summer ingredient to highlight right now. Choosing ripe purple passion fruit is straightforward. Look for fruit that is slightly dimpled or wrinkled, but not dried out. A quick sniff will reveal its aromatic sweetness and sure sign of ripeness. To enjoy the fruit, simply cut the tough rind in half and scoop out the cavity filled with orange-colored pulp and tiny seeds. The flavor is a unique mix of musky sweetness and tropical tartness, making it a versatile ingredient for various culinary creations. Some love it pure, or on top of vanilla ice cream. But it also adds great complexity to smoothies, cocktails, and pastries, not to mention it freezes surprisingly well if you’re unsure what to make at the moment of its ripeness.
As someone who loves to entertain at home, I cherish a make-ahead dessert that is as refreshing as it is nostalgic. For the perfect end to a summer meal, try the recipe below for coconut tapioca pudding with passion fruit gelée discs, topped with crispy dark chocolate pearls and geranium petals from the garden.
This dessert can easily be served in individual glasses or a large shallow bowl. That said, I love filling the hollowed-out passionfruit skins with the creamy tapioca and topping it with a round disc of passion fruit gelée. The experience of holding the dimpled fruit while rolling the coconut flavored tapioca pearls on your tongue adds an element of fun to the dining experience and sparks conversation among guests.
My current studio, Taste:Work:Shop, designed a unique grid and bent plywood teeter-totter inspired by this childhood memory and recipe. The grid is perfect for placing round-bottomed vessels in individualized nooks, and the swaying back and forth is playfully reminiscent of my neighbors and I hopping the vine-covered fence.
And if a food teeter-totter isn’t your thing, individual egg cups or cartons will work just as well. Enjoy soaking up these last days of summer!
Coconut Tapioca Pudding
Serving size 12
Ingredients:
½ cup small tapioca pearls
1 ½ cups filtered water
2 – 13.5 oz cans of coconut milk (or cream)
2 pinches of sea salt
4 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
Method:
1. Soak tapioca pearls in water for 2 hours at room temperature (or in refrigerator overnight).
2. In a large saucepan, transfer the tapioca mixture and add coconut milk, salt, maple syrup, and the seeds from the vanilla bean and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
3. Stir often while simmering gently over low heat for 10-15 minutes until thickened.
4. Make sure tapioca beads are translucent.
5. Remove from heat and let cool.
6. Divide pudding among serving bowls or passion fruit cups* and let cool in refrigerator overnight (or at least 3 hours).
7. *Place passion fruit cups upright in egg carton or mini cupcake tin, so mixture does not spill out.
Passion Fruit Gelée Discs
Serving size 12
Ingredients:
½ cup of passion fruit pulp (approx. 12 passion fruits)
3 tsp agar agar
¼ cup sugar
1 ¾ cups hot water
Method:
1. Mix agar powder and sugar, dissolve in hot water.
2. Over low heat, whisk until well combined, and bring mixture to a simmer.
3. Add the passion fruit pulp. If mixture is too tart for your taste, add more sugar.
4. Cool and pour mixture into the bottom of a silicone cupcake mold. About ¼” high in each cavity (OR pour into a sheet pan*).
5. Cover and allow to cool and set in refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).
6. If you use a sheet pan instead of muffin mold, cut set gelée with 2” round cookie cutter.
7. Spatula gelée discs atop the chilled coconut tapioca filled passion fruit cups.
Before serving:
Garnish coconut pudding cups and passion fruit gelée discs with crispy dark chocolate pearls and geranium petals from the garden.
Photography by Taste:Work:Shop.
