Passion Fruit Pastry Cream

Passion fruit (also called lilikoi) pastry cream is a tropical twist on a classic pastry filling. Use it to fill donuts, tarts, cream puffs, or to top pavlovas.

Passion fruit is such a unique flavor. It’s light and fresh, tart yet sweet. It’s a bit less common than the standard tropical fruit flavors like mango or pineapple, which makes baking with it feel like a special occasion.

How to Use Passion Fruit Pastry Cream

There are so many ways to use passion fruit pastry cream. Here are just a few ideas, though you can get creative and use it however you’d like!

• Passion Fruit Donuts — Make a batch of homemade donuts using this recipe. However, don’t cut holes in the center.
  
  Once the donuts are fried and glazed, use a long skewer to poke a hole in the side of the donut. Move it back and forth a couple of times to make space inside the donut.
  
  Spoon the passion fruit pastry cream into a piping bag that has been fitted with a tip. Insert the tip into the hole made in the side of each donut and squeeze the cream into it until you can feel the donut swell slightly and become heavier. Enjoy your filled donuts!
  
• Passion Fruit Tart — Make a 9″ tart crust (here’s my favorite recipe for that), or four 4″ tart crusts. Fill them with the passion fruit pastry cream, then let it set in the refrigerator until completely chilled.
  
  Top the tart with whipped cream (stabilized whipped cream holds up best), then decorate it with any fruit you’d like.
  
• Passion Fruit Cream Puffs — Make a batch of cream puffs using this recipe. Fill them with this pastry cream instead of maple. You can dust the tops with powdered sugar, leave them plain, or drizzle a thin glaze over the cream puffs.
  
• Passion Fruit Pavlova — Make a pavlova, then top it with pastry cream, whipped cream, and any fruit you’d like. I love the pavlovas like this one from Zoe Bakes–they’re always so pretty and elegant!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups whole milk — While technically any milk will work, the extra fat in whole milk will give you a smooth, extra creamy pastry cream.
  
• 1/2 cup passion fruit puree — You can use whole passion fruit and blend the pulp until smooth. You’ll need 5-6 passion fruit. Or, you can purchase passion fruit puree online. I got this one on Amazon, and it’s only passion fruit and 10% sugar.
  
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) white sugar — Any granulated white sugar will work. I like the flavor of cane sugar.
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  
• 4 large egg yolks — separate them from the egg whites
  
• 3 Tablespoons (24 g) all-purpose flour — This, along with the egg yolks, is a thickener.
  
• 2 Tablespoons butter

Making Passion Fruit Pastry Cream

First, set a fine mesh sieve over a mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk about 1/4 cup of the milk into the egg yolks. Slowly add the flour, a bit at a time, and whisk it into the eggs and milk until there aren’t any lumps.

Tempering the Eggs

Put the rest of the milk, sugar, and salt into a medium pot and heat it over medium heat, stirring constantly. When the sugar has dissolved and the milk is steaming, scoop some of it out with a large ladle.

Add the hot milk into the bowl of eggs, whisking constantly. Repeat with several more ladles of hot milk. This is called tempering the eggs, and warms them gently without cooking them too quickly.

Once you’ve mixed about 4 large ladles of hot milk into the eggs, add the entire egg mixture back to the pot. Pour in the passion fruit puree and stir it all together.

Thickening the Pastry Cream

Heat the passion fruit pastry cream over medium-low heat while stirring constantly with a wire whisk. The mixture will begin to thicken, and eventually bubble.This should take about 5-7 minutes. If you feel like it’s heating too quickly, reduce the heat. You don’t want the pastry cream to split or the eggs to scramble.

When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, set a timer for one minute. Continue stirring constantly as it cooks. When it is finished, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter until it’s melted.

Chilling and Storing the Pastry Cream

Pour the cooked pastry cream through the sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps or bits of cooked eggs. Cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the pastry cream to keep the top from drying out and developing a skin.

Allow the pastry cream to cool completely in the refrigerator before using it. It will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

It be used to fill donuts, tarts, or cream puffs, or top pavlovas.

Other Passion Fruit Recipes You May Enjoy:

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