Passion Fruit Curd & Other Fruit Curds
Passion Fruit Curd is just one variation of this adaptable recipe. Fruit curds can be made with citrus fruit, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, and others. Curds are easy to make and so versatile in the kitchen.
My custom cake business, Cake Art Studio, had a fairly large menu of cake flavors. One of the most popular was the Luscious Lemon Cake and that cake is now one of the most popular recipes on Baking Sense.
The base for that wonderful cake is a really great lemon curd recipe. If you’ve got extra egg yolks, you can make this Yolks Only Lemon Curd.
Citrus juices make wonderful curd and lemon curd is a pastry kitchen staple, but passion fruit curd is one of my favorites. I just adore the floral tropical flavor.
Passion Fruit Curd is the perfect filling for Coconut Cake and Coconut Macaroons.
It’s a bit of work to get the juice from fresh passion fruit, and passion fruit can be a little expensive. But if you’re looking to make a tart or cake with an unusual flavor, I think it’s well worth the effort.
Scroll through the step by step photos to see how to make Passion Fruit Curd (and other fruit curds):
Tips for making Passion Fruit Curd and other types of Fruit Curd:
- Always combine the sugar with the eggs before adding the fruit juice. If you add the juice to eggs without the sugar, the acidic juice will “cook” the eggs.
- The gelatin is optional. Instructions for blooming gelatin can be found here.
- If you’re using the curd for a spread or sauce you don’t need the gelatin.
- Use the gelatin when you don’t want the curd to be oozy, like in a cake or tart that will be sliced.
- It’s not necessary to cook the curd on a double boiler.
- You can cook the curd directly on the stove as long as you keep the heat on medium-low and stir constantly to avoid burning.
- When the curd is ready it should coat the spatula or spoon.
- The curd will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator and can be frozen for several months.
The recipe can be adapted to make other fruit curds. See the notes section of the recipe card for an all purpose fruit curd recipe.
For inspiration, here are some of my favorite recipes that use all sorts of fruit curds: Lime Layered Cheesecake, Lemon Filled Shortbread, Pink Grapefruit Meringue Tart, Pina Colada Pie.
Finally, Passion Fruit Curd, and all other fruit curds, make a great topping for Vanilla Ice Cream.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Fruit Curd Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 teaspoons gelatin powder (optional)
- 4 oz passion fruit juice (or other fruit juice) (1/2 cup, see notes)
- 10 oz granulated sugar (1 1/4 cups)
- 3 large eggs
- juice from 1/2 lime
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- 3 oz unsalted butter (cut into 1″ chunks)
Instructions
- If you are using the gelatin, bloom 1 1/2 teaspoons gelatin powder in 2 tablespoons cold water in a medium size bowl. Set aside.
- Slice the passion fruits in half. Scoop the pulp out of the shell and put into a blender or food processor. Process the pulp to separate the pulp and seeds. Strain the pulp in a fine mesh strainer. If a lot of pulp is still stuck to the seeds, process them again with a little bit of water. Strain again. You should have about a 1/2 cup of juice. Add water if needed to get to a 1/2 cup.
- Thoroughly whisk together10 oz granulated sugar and 3 large eggs in a medium saucepan. Add the passion fruit juice, juice from 1/2 lime and ⅛ teaspoon table salt.
- Place 3 oz unsalted butter on top of the bloomed gelatin. Put a fine mesh sieve over the bowl and keep it near the stove.
- Heat the egg/juice mixture over medium low heat, stirring constantly. You must be sure to keep stirring across the entire bottom and corners of the pot so the custard does not have a chance to stick. The mixture will start out opaque with a fine white foam over the surface. As it heats up the curd will thicken, become more translucent and the foam will disappear.
- Cook until the curd will coat the back of a wooden spoon and is just beginning to boil. Don't allow it to come to a full boil, just 1 or 2 bubbles and you're ready.
- Immediately remove from the heat and pour through the sieve over the butter and (optional) gelatin.
- Stir until the butter and gelatin are melted and thoroughly incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and cool a bit before putting in the refrigerator.
- Refrigerate until completely cooled. If using gelatin, allow it to sit 8 hours or overnight to gel.
Fruit Curd Variations:
- 1/2 cup juice from mango, guava, pineapple, etc.
- Adjust sugar to taste for the type of juice used. You can always use the juice from 1/2 a lime or lemon to spark the flavor. I like to use lime with mango and lemon with guava.
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Hi, i’d Like to try to make it today. I have a quick question, are you using the whole eggs or only egg yolks?
Thanks!
I use whole eggs. I would specify “yolks” if that’s the case.
Hi!
I’ve been using the “gelatinized” version of this recipe for months. I love it!
However, I have a bit of a problem with my last batch, and was wondering if you could offer any help.
I doubled the batch, but forgot to double the gelatin!!! It is not as firm as I prefer.
Is there anyway I could go back and add the extra needed gelatin? I was thinking maybe I could warm it up, mix with the extra bloomed gelatin? Would that work?
Thanks for any advice you have!
Yes, do exactly as you said. Warm the curd until it’s more liquid, then stir in the bloomed gelatin.
Worked perfect. Included gelatine and made lemon tarts. Tasted great. Thanks for the detailed instructions as it helped me.
That’s grea, Alison. Thanks for the feedback.
I’d like to make a mango lime curd for my son’s birthday cake this week. Can you please advise on how to do this with fresh mango fruit and lime juice? Also, how much sugar should I use. Thanks!
Hi Kristy. I would start with the same proportions as the Passion Fruit Curd. Give it a little taste and then adjust the flavor by adding more lime juice or more sugar. Also, if you’re using fresh mango you might want to strain it to get the fibrous bits out.
Hi Eileen,
Many many thanks for your advice and literally getting me out of a STICKY situation. I’m forever grateful.
So I ended up using 2 1/4 tsp gelatine and it did the tick. I couldn’t have hoped for a better result and have been meaning to come back on to your page to say Thankyou and to leave my findings for someone else that may need the help. I would love to post a photo of the slice for you but I’m not entirely sure
I know how to go about that , or perhaps I can email to you and you could post it if needed. Thankyou and I look forward to diving into to your cookbook one day.
I glad that worked Sarah. Did you leave out the cornstarch this time? If you’re on social media (Facebook, Instagram) you can post the photo and tag me so I see it. Otherwise you can email it to me.
Ok, I will look you up on Instagram.
Oh and yeah, I left out the cornstarch. Thanks for the tip, it actually tasted so much better with just the gelatine