Frozen passion fruit pie

Thank my friend Melanie for my summer take on key lime pie.

You have my friend Melanie to thank for this pie.

Whenever Melanie makes frozen key lime pie, she brings me a slice when she knows no one is home, so I can stash it in the freezer and have it all to myself. This is because I am a greedy, horrible person when it comes to this pie, and she gets me.

Melanie’s pie recipe comes from Her Majesty Ina Garten, and you can find it all over the web. As much as I love the pie, however, it uses raw, uncooked egg yolks, which I know is a no-go for a lot of people, so I set out to create a similar recipe that was egg-free. I also had a gigantic container of near-pure passion fruit juice in my house (see note below) and thought the only way to possibly improve on frozen key lime pie was to make a frozen passion fruit pie.

I believe I was right.

Note about passion fruit:

Although I wish, wish, wish I had my own passion fruit orchard, I live in New Jersey, and that ain’t ever going to happen. Even fresh passion fruits are hard to find. Luckily, you can often find pure, frozen pure passion fruit pulp in the freezer section of many Latin American grocery stores. I also can find fresh passion fruit pulp with very few additives at H-mart, the Korean grocery chain. To be clear you don’t want to buy a juice product, as that will contain too much sugar.

If the seeds aren’t already removed from the juice, that’ll be your job. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl, pour in the pulp and lightly press on it to push the juice through. Like this:

makes 1 9-inch pie

What You’ll Need

For the crust

1 1/2 cups (180 grams) finely crushed graham crackers (about 6 full graham cracker sheets)

6 tablespoons (84 grams) butter, melted

1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoons salt

For the filling

2 cups (16 fluid ounces) heavy cream

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup (8 fluid ounces) passion fruit puree, melted if frozen, or “pure” pulp (see note above on what to look for)

Zest of 2 limes (about 2 teaspoons)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

What You’ll Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie pan.

2. Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and salt. Pour the mixture into the pie plate and using the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup, firmly press the crumbs to the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes until just light golden in color. Let cool completely before proceeding with the next step.

3. Whisk the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, gently fold in the sweetened condensed milk, passion fruit puree, lime zest and lime juice. Spoon this lush, cloud-like mixture into the pie shell and smooth into place. Freeze for 2 hours, or until firm. If you plan to keep the pie in the freezer for a few days, cover the pie with plastic wrap to prevent unpleasant freezer odors seeping in. Mrs Paul’s fish sticks-scented passion fruit pie is what we’re trying to avoid. (Also, when was the last time you had a fish stick?)

4. Remove the pie from the fridge 15 minutes before you intend to serve it. I drizzled more puree over the pie to 1) Give eaters a clue what the pie was about; and 2) Ensure some puckery passion fruitiness. Cut the pie with a knife dipped in hot water and dried. Problem getting the crust out? Put a warm towel underneath the pie plate to help warm the butter in the crust.

A note on naturalization and denaturalization.

My father, a persecuted Jewish refugee, came to the United States in 1939, and as soon as he was old enough, proudly joined the American Army, even before he became a citizen. Before basic training began in a room full of fellow immigrants in Mineral Wells, Texas, he raised his right hand and swore an oath to the United States. He was the proudest of citizens. He thought it was a privilege to pay taxes that went to support civic services. He hung an American flag on all occasions, and, no surprise, his favorite holiday was the Fourth of July. We would eat copious amounts of hot dogs and other wurst, corn on the cob, and watermelon, then head to Memorial Field in our town of Summit, New Jersey. Sitting on lawn chairs and blankets, we would (albeit obnoxiously loud) “oooo” and “ahhh” our way through the fireworks.

Even though my dad has been dead for a number of years now, I still insist on making the most of the holiday. However, this Fourth of July will have a different feel to it. So many naturalized citizens, birthright citizens, and legal Green Card holders will feel nervous and uncertain as we head into the holiday. These are people who embraced this country and give back every day. And yet. And yet.

Joyce Vance, in a recent Substack post about the Department of Justice initiating de-naturalization of citizens, made an important and stark point: “The question we have to learn to ask about this administration is not where it starts, but where it ends.”

Take care of each other.

Marissa Rothkopf Bates writes about food for the New York Times, Newsweek (RIP) and Publishers’ Weekly among others. Her newest book, “The Secret Life of Chocolate Chip Cookies,” is available for pre-sale wherever fine books are sold. Find her on Substack here.

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