Curuba/ Passionflower/Passiflora Tarminiana

Lovely, isn’t it?

Passiflora Tarminiana, or Banana Passion Fruit, is a perennial woody vine reaching a length of 20 meters and an age of 20 years. Native to the tropical region of the Andes between 2000 and 3600 meters, this species is widely cultivated in its native range and in many parts of the Tropics and Subtropics as an ornamental and for its fruits. It is now widespread in parts of South Africa, Asia, and upper elevation areas of several Pacific islands including Hawaii. In Hawaii, the Banana Passion Fruit, or more commonly, the Banana Poka occurs at elevations from 2000-7000 feet, with serious invasions in 4000-6000 feet areas with high rainfall.

Beautiful bright pink flowers are borne at the ends of a long stalk. Flowering starts when the plant is one year old. The flowers are large, 5-10 cm in diameter. They are visited by a large number of insects and birds but are chiefly pollinated by honeybees. Amazing edible fruit may be produced in warm conditions. Fruit green, turning yellow when ripe, up to 12 cm long by 3 cm across, thin-skinned. The pulp is orange, edible and very tasty, sweet. Vines usually produce by the second year and can yield up to 300 fruits a vine when in full production. Fruits can ripen year round. Passion fruit is an good and exact source of vitamins A and C. One passion fruit has only 16 calories. When eaten with the seeds, a serving is an excellent source of fiber. Fresh Passion Fruit is become to be high in vitamin A, Potassium and dietary fibre. The Yellow variety is used for juice processing; the Purple variety is mostly for sold in fresh fruit markets. Passion fruit juice is a excellent source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Ay Caramba, Curuba es lo que hay! Now check out these two fantastically delicious recipes.

Since they were first described in Europe in the 16th century, passionflowers have held a special fascination among plant collectors for their bold, beautiful, complicated blossoms and delectable passionfruits. Most are perennial climbers, but some are trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, or even annuals, and all lend a dramatic, tropical flavor to any situation. Since they have such a broad range of cultivation requirements, passionflowers can be grown by just about anyone, and cold-hardy species can be grown outdoors year-round. This authoritative, comprehensive volume describes 207 Passiflora species and 31 hybrids. A chapter is devoted to the remarkable coevolution of passionflowers with Heliconius butterflies, which many passionflower enthusiasts now raise alongside flowering vines in the greenhouse. As lushly illustrated as it is informative, Passiflora: Passionflowers of the World reveals the immense variation found among members of this extraordinary genus.

Passion Fruit Pie 
*technicolorkitchen*

Bottom Crust
1 package of butter cookies (about 20)
1/2 cup of melted salted butter
1 teaspoon of water (if necessary)

Easy, just run the cookies in a blender, add the butter and the water and mix for about 10 seconds. Pour everything in a medium size pie mold or any other pan. Press the crust tightly. It should not be thicker than 1 cm (4 inch). Leave aside.

Passion Fruit Cream
1 small can of sweetened condensed milk
1 small pack of whipping cream (38% fat)
10 g of powdered gelatin or 1 sheet
Pulp from 8 passion fruits

Remove the pulp from you passion fruit before you start anything else. Set aside. Start whipping your cream until firm. Now dissolve the gelatin in a little bit of hot water. Add the condensed milk, the gelatin and the passion fruit pulp to the whipped cream and fold gently. Pour it into the crust you previously prepared and let set in the fridge for at least an hour.

Passion Fruit jelly topping
Pulp from 6 to 8 passion fruit
1/2 glass of natural peach juice (nectar)
1 tablespoon of sugar
10 g of powdered gelatin or 1 sheet

Now that the cream as set, remove the pulp from you passion fruit, add the peach juice and sugar and mix well. As before dissolve your gelatin in a bit of hot water and add it to rest. Stir very well and carefully pour over the cream. Return to the fridge for at least another couple of hours, just to be sure it won’t fall apart and you get nice slices.

Passion fruit jellies with Banana and Yogurt

Ingredients
350ml passion fruit juice
175ml freshly squeezed orange juice
200g sugar
6 gelatin leaves, softened in cold water
200g yogurt
30g honey
thickly sliced banana, to serve
passion fruit pulp, to serve

Instructions
Combine juices, sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then pass through a fine sieve. Warm ½ cup juice mixture in a saucepan over medium heat, squeeze excess water from gelatin, add to pan and stir until gelatin dissolves, then add remaining juice mixture. Cool slightly and pour into six 1 cup-capacity glasses and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.
To serve, whisk together yoghurt and honey. Top jellies with a spoonful of yogurt, cover with banana slices and spoon over passion fruit pulp.

Note: to make passion fruit juice, blend passion fruit pulp in a food processor to crack seeds, then strain through a fine sieve. Twelve passion fruit yield about 1 cup of juice.