First, you need to know that “lilikoi” is our Hawai`ian word for passionfruit, the fruit of the
Passion Flower vine. Read the Wikipedia religious explanation of the word “passion.” But I’m passionate about the passionfruit (groan), which I know mostly as lilikoi.
In January, I
wrote about trying to grown my own, but I haven’t had much luck so far. In that post, I also included a recipe for lilikoi butter, but I’ve refined it a bit. Also, this is for the benefit of those readers who are new to “Lava to Lilikoi.”
A friend in Na`alehu gave me a huge box of lilikoi fresh from the vine. I love to simply scoop out the insides with a spoon and eat, seeds and all. But this time, there were way too many to simply sit and eat myself sick. So I asked around for some recipes. My masseuse (Velvet) gave me this recipe.
The process I use for juicing is to cut them in half, scoop out the insides, and let that drain in a colander for about 24 hours to get rid of the seeds. My house smelled like lilikoi for days after I finished juicing them.
Lilikoi Butter
4 eggs
4 cups sugar (I used a little less and mixed it with Splenda)
1 pound unsalted butter
1 ¾ cup lilikoi juice
Mix juice, sugar, butter in a large pan. Heat until butter is melted. Beat the eggs together in a separate bowl and temper by drizzling a little of the hot liquid into the beaten eggs so they don’t scramble on you. Keep stirring and when the egg mixture is about the same temperature as the hot liquid, pour it into the pan with the juice, butter and sugar.
Bring to a rolling boil, then down to a slow rolling simmer for about half an hour. This will thicken as it cooks.
I don’t know how to improve on this simple recipe other than to use it whenever you can, over whatever you can find. I like it over ice cream, on toasted English muffins or scones, over plain cheesecake, or just right out of the jar with a spoon!
I made a double batch with all the lilikoi I had, and ended up with twelve jars. They look like jewels on my shelf!
A hui hou!
Tagged as:
Cooking,
FOOD,
Lilikoi,
Lilikoi Butter
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Aloha,
Kathy had written about fruit “butters” with a recipe on July 18, 2010. Can anyone tell me how long this must boil? I’d like to try both recipes as I love fruit butters and flavored butters, especially when it involves liliko’i! Also about how much liliko’i does it take to make a cup of juice?
Mahalo!
I’m not familiar with the recipe that Kathy wrote, so I can’t tell you how long it must boil. Perhaps another reader can do that. I actually just use a percentage, so I’m not sure how many liliko`i it takes to make a cup of juice. When I gather a bunch from someone, I just make it all up into juice and end up with way more than enough to make my “butter.” Anything extra you have can be mixed into ice cream, made into a salad dressing, etc.
Aloha,
Lucy
With regard to boiling the lilikoi butter, it needs to come to a slow boil then boil for just a minute or two, stirring all the while. Two much boiling and you’ll be left with a granular mess like I had one time! Still tastes good but you want smooth, golden goodness instead of grainy goodness. With regard to how many lilikoi makes a cup of juice…that depends on the size of your lilikoi. I would guess approximately 20-30.
So, then is the lilikoi butter considered preserved?? Are we canning it, if the jar seals as it cools? Will it keep, even with the eggs in it??
I never thought about that, but I guess you could say it is preserved! I have some left from a batch 2 years ago on my shelf. I just opened some and it is still very good – and just fine to eat. Remember, the eggs are cooked.
ALoha,
Do you think I could use agave instead of sugar?
Also, here is a trick to separating the seeds. Put the entire inside of the lilikoi in a small cuisinart and pulse on low.. It totally separates the seeds form the pulp without breaking into the seeds.. then put it in a strainer and stir with wooden spoon and it separates without any challenges… SO EASY!
I’ve not tried that, although I use agave in other ways. I suspect it would alter the consistency and flavor, but maybe someone else who reads this column could answer your question. Yes, I’ve tried your method of separating seeds from pulp. Most methods seem to work, so I guess it’s whatever is easiest for each person.
Aloha,
Lucy
aloha! I’m on Oahu, and my yard has so so many lilikoi in it….I recently tried lilikoi butter at farmers market and it was so delicious, but at $8 a jar..it was too much for me to purchase regularly…I found some at malama for $6 and tried that, but it was made on the mainland and it tasted terrible! like movie theater butter…completely fake and gross.
anyhoo….I’ve never jarred anything, so I thought I’d start with lilikoi butter…I used a recipe I found on the star advertiser and it tasted amazing, silky and fabulous…but, my first batch had tiny bits of eggs in it…(I still eat it…) my second batch turned out great, but, when I look at my jars, and turn them upside down, It looks like some liquid may have separated a bit? is this normal?
I usually shake mine up before I use it, so yes, I think there is a little separation. I’ve had a batch with bits of egg, too, but I still eat it. It hasn’t changed the flavor and once it’s over ice cream, it really doesn’t matter, does it?? LOL
Aloha,
Lucy
Probably try Tutus Jellies and Jams. They have one in the Kalama shopping center in Kihei.
Just wanted to add my 2 cents in regarding processing the lilikoi. I used to do all the straining by hand, and we get tons of lilikoi. Just recently I purchased a Ninja blender and it came with a dough tool. So, needing to juice some lilikoi right away, and not wanting to wait to thaw out what I had in the freezer, I was looking for an easier way. So what I did is I scoop the insides of the lilikoi into a nylon bag and squeeze until I can’t get anymore juice. Then I take whats left in the bag and put it into my blender with the dough attachement – it has no blades so it dosen’t cut into the seeds. Just yesterday I got six cups of juice from 54 lilikoi this way, and the seeds are so clean with no sticky residue, that all I just have to do is dry them and give them to my friends who are always asking for them!
That sounds great! I’m sure there are readers who would like to know this method! Many different methods have been offered, and I say whatever works!
Aloha,
Lucy
I made my first batch or lilikoi butter last week. However, I changed the recipe a bit… half the amount of sugar and half again the amount of butter.. Excellent!!! It has more of a butter/lilikoi flavor and less sweet.
Thanks for the tip on boiling too long.. mine is a little granular, but when melted on a piece of toast.. wella!! the granular melts.
Yes, I love the texture after it’s on hot bread or toast. I also use it over ice cream, but the slight granular texture doesn’t bother me. Congratulations on your first batch!
Aloha,
Lucy
I think I e-mailed you awhile back to ask how much this recipe made… And I wanted to get back to you and say that I got about four 8 oz mason jars worth of lilikoi butter! I wanted to find smaller canning jars on island but had no luck.
I planted a seedling this past April and the vine has really taken off, so I’m hoping for lots of my own homegrown lilikoi next year! We used the lilikoi butter on a vanilla bean cheesecake with raspberries and it was amaaazing! Thanks for the great recipe
I froze some of the juice and I’m making more of the butter for Christmas gifts this year.
Wow! I love comments like yours! Glad it turned out well. Yes, I like it on vanilla cheesecake, too!! I like it any way I can eat it
Thank you for letting me (and the readers) know it works!
Aloha,
Lucy
By the way, I’ve gotten smaller jars at our local Ocean View Ace hardware store. Sometimes I’ve gotten them at Safeway. Check around!
Ace Hardware in Kaneohe sometimes have them on sale but the smallest 4oz jars goes fast. I’ve also found them at Ben Franklin Craft store. Walmart has a larger (very pretty) 6oz jar that is excellent for gifts. I have 4 mature vines growing in my 2 jabon trees, my panex hedge and up a papaya tree. They produce more fruit than I can use so I juice as many as I have time fore and freeze them in little snack size ziploc bags which holds 1 cup. My recipe calls for 1/2 -1 cup juice, 1 1/2 – 2 cups sugar, 3-4 eggs and 1 block of butter. You will get specks of (scrambled) egg if you try to cook it at higher than medium heat. No problem, just pour the end result through a sieve. I would like to get my lilikoi to “set” a bit harder but not sure how to do that. Yes, it does separate after awhile … either give it away sooner or shake. I extract the juice by putting it through a sieve, then I add a bit more water and use the “2nd pressing” to make juice.
Anyone for Lilikoi Salad Dressing?
This is a variation of a recipe shared by my tennis friend Mary. This dressing tastes so fresh and is especially good on mixed greens.
LILIKOI SALAD DRESSING
1/4 – 1/2 Cup fresh lilikoi juice
1/2 Cup mint, packed
1 inch piece ginger peeled and sliced
1 cup oil
2 Tablespoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 large clove garlic, peeled.
Place all ingredients in a blender until the mint and ginger are finely chopped.
Note: You can get about ¼ – ½ cup juice by straining about 6 – 10 lilikois, depending on the size.
Note: I used ½ cup vegetable oil and ½ cup extra light olive oil.
Wow! Thanks for the recipe and all the great comments, Lynne! I have to beg or steal lilikoi from friends because mine just don’t grow here. I’m so envious of those who have so many! I’ve had Lilikoi Salad Dressing before, but no recipe for it.
Aloha,
Lucy
Lucy, to grow lilikoi (I’m sure they’d grow in the Volcano area) – after you extract the juice, take the entire glop of seeds and bury it on your property, somewhere near a “rubbish” tree or a chain link fence. They are agressive growers. Having them grow on a tall tree is great because to harvest, you just pick them off the lawn. If you plant them on a low trellis, you then have to dig through the mess of vines to get to the fruit.
Unfortunately, I don’t live in Volcano. I live in Ocean View with an acre of a`a lava. I have beautiful ohia trees – huge and spreading – but no soil where I could bury anything. I’ve created a few raised beds, and tried lilikoi in holes where I’d poured soil – but no luck. I’ve picked them off the ground at the homes of friends who were lucky enough to have plenty. Maybe if I ever move to another place with soil, I can get a few fruits.
Aloha Lucy,
Thank you so much, for your encouragement. My only problem is affording canning jars to preserve the ton I made. I beat the juice into the eggs, before heating, so no worry about separation.
You wrote me a while back, when I was in the middle of a move. It appears you moved to my neighborhood, so maybe now we can get together. As far as the lilikoi butter************
**********Success!!! Soooooo Yummy!! I’m tempted to toss out the stuff I bought commercially- it’s that good.
I also made a delicious sauce/salad dressing. Used it as a glaze on chicken. Yesterday I made banana/lilikoi/cranberry bread. It was the best banana bread I’ve ever made. Now, I didn’t use a recipe, but I wrote down what I remember, and will try it again from that. If it works, I will post it.
A warning about planting lilikoi to climb a tree; it can choke and kill the tree, not fun if it falls on the house. It grows very well in Ocean View, however, the caterpillars love it. I save the egg shells to put around the plant.
Have a wonderful New Year Everyone! Aloha
Yes, I’ve been living in Ocean View for about 7 years now. I remember talking with you. Send me an email telling me where you live and we can get together. And a big YES to the caterpillars getting the lilikoi here. I also put egg shells around my plants, but they still manage to get to them. We’ll see what happens. I still have a few struggling plants.
Aloha and Hau`oli Makahiki Hou!
Lucy
Eggshells? Caterpillars? Do they eat the foliage? What do the eggshells do?
Your Banana, Lilikoi, Cranberry bread sounds delicious. How much lilikoi juice do you add and did you mix it into the batter or did you just poured some lilikoi butter on top? (Sticky?)
I have a Kona Inn Banana Bread recipe that I like, maybe I’ll soak some dried cranberries in lilikoi juice to plump and add it to the batter before baking. I have some apple bananas in the freezer so I may try it this weekend.
mahalo & aloha,
Lynne
Yes, the caterpillars eat the foliage, and I understand it is necessary (??) for them to convert into a specific butterfly. I can’t remember the kind right now, although one of my readers mentioned it a while back. Caterpillars don’t like to crawl over the eggshells (crushed, of course) and that does discourage them – for a little bit, anyway. The banana/lilikoi/cranberry bread was Noel, so I will check with her on how she used it all, or she may read this and respond to you
Aloha,
Lucy
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