Passion Fruit Cheesecake

This Passion Fruit Cheesecake is a delectable dessert that combines a crunchy cookie crust with a smooth, creamy cheesecake filling infused with tangy passion fruit, and topped off with extra fresh passion fruit syrup! This tropical twist on a classic cheesecake is refreshing and indulgent!

This passion fruit cheesecake seriously takes things to a new level. While there are many interpretations of cheesecake, this one is pretty classic, using a cookie crumb crust that is filled with the cheesecake mixture and baked. The only twist here is the addition of passion fruit juice for an extra tangy flavor, which goes amazingly with the rich cream cheese.

Ingredients You Need

For the Cookie Crust Base

• Cookies: I like to use Maria crackers or a graham cracker base! Any plain, store-bought sweet biscuits or cookies should work well.
• Butter: Butter helps to moisten the crust and allows it to stick together.
• Sugar: Sugar will help the crust to darken and caramelize in the oven.

For the Cheesecake Filling

• Cream Cheese: For best results, use the cream cheese that comes in square packs. Be sure to bring them to room temperature! If they are not at room temperature, your cheesecake will be lumpy.
• Eggs: To create structure.
• Cornstarch: Also helps the cheesecake to set and create a structure.
• Passion Fruit Juice: You can use passion fruit juice directly from the fruit, or you can buy frozen passion fruit puree and let it thaw. Either way, be sure to strain out the seeds!
• Sugar: For added sweetness! Passion fruit is quite tart, so it is needed to balance out the flavors.
• Vanilla Extract: For added flavor!

For the Passion Fruit Syrup

• Passion Fruit Juice: Fresh is best, since you want the seeds to be present. However, you can also use a mix of frozen concentrate plus 1-2 fresh passion fruits to get the same effect at a lower price.
• Sugar: Sugar will caramelize and thicken the juice to create a syrupy topping!

How to Make Passion Fruit Cheesecake

1. Preheat & Prep: Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F. Crush the cookies in the blender or food processor. Before starting, make sure the blender glass is completely dry. Crush the cookies in the blender jar or the food processor container.
2. Blend the Cookies: Blend them until they turn to a powder. If you don’t have a blender, put the cookies in a plastic bag and crush them with a brushing pin.

3. Make Cookie Crust Mixture: In a medium bowl, combine the crushed cookies, the melted butter, and the two tablespoons of sugar. Mix until you have a dough similar in consistency to beach sand.

4. Line Cake Pan: Line a 9-inch (22cm) round springform pan with parchment paper. Cut out a circle for the base and a long sheet for the sides. The parchment paper should be higher than the baking pan sides.
5. Press Crust into Pan: Pour all of the cookie mixture into the baking pan, and spread it evenly on the base and sides of the pan using your fingers. You can use a glass or the bottom of a measuring cup to help compact and even out the cookie layer.

6. Bake: Bake the cookie crust in the preheated oven for ten minutes until golden. While the cookie crust is cooking, you can prepare the passion fruit cheesecake filling.
7. Make Cheesecake Mixture: Place the cream cheese, eggs, cornstarch, passion fruit juice, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Mix well using a hand mixer until the mixture is completely homogeneous and smooth. Avoid having any lumps.

8. Add Cheesecake Filling to Pan: Remove the mold from the oven and let it cool down. Then, pour the passion fruit cream cheese filling into the mold with the pre-baked cookie crust.

9. Bake the Cheesecake: Put the baking mold back in the oven, and cook for 30 minutes at 150°C/300°F, then lower the temperature to 100°C/215F for 20 minutes, and finally, before turning it off, cook it at 50°C/125F for 30 minutes.
10. Cool: Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for at least an hour. Then, remove it from the oven and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight or for several hours.

11. Make Passion Fruit Topping: To prepare the passion fruit topping, put ½ cup passion fruit juice (including passion fruit pulp with seeds if desired) with 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, lower the heat and cook for about 25-30 minutes to thicken a little. Let it cool completely.

12. Remove from Pan: To serve the cheesecake, unmold it and carefully remove the parchment paper. Place the cheesecake on a serving plate.

13. Serve: You can add the passion fruit sauce directly to the cheesecake, or you can serve each individual slice with the sauce on top. Serve and enjoy!

Cheesecake Tips & Tricks

Learn from my mistakes! I have made plenty of mistakes when making cheesecake in the past, so that you don’t have to. Here are some of my best tips so that your passionfruit cheesecake comes out perfect every time.

1. Don’t worry about the crust being perfect! Especially if you don’t have a blender or a food processor, the graham cracker crust or cookie crust is going to have some imperfections. That is totally fine! Mix it up with the butter and sugar as best you can, and then use your fingers to press the crust into the parchment paper-lined springform pan. Once it is baked, the structure will be strong enough for the cheesecake.
2. Don’t take the cheesecake out of the oven right away! One of the most important things to know about making cheesecakes is that they don’t like significant temperature changes. This is what can cause the dreaded cracks! Be sure to follow the recipe instructions by slowly decreasing the temperature in the oven while baking, and then allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven after it has been turned off for about an hour. Finally, let it sit at room temperature before placing it into the fridge to chill.
3. Make sure to use baking or parchment paper! It would be such a tragedy to go through the work of making a passion fruit cheesecake just to have it stick to the pan. No matter what kind of pan you are using, I highly recommend using parchment paper to make sure that it doesn’t stick and can easily come out of the pan after it is chilled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find passion fruit juice?

First, I would try finding fresh passion fruit. It is not available everywhere or can sometimes be expensive, depending on your location. If you can’t find fresh passion fruits, then I would go for a packaged passion fruit puree or frozen concentrate. It mightl have seeds in it, which is great for the topping. For the cheesecake filling, you just need the juice without the seeds, which you can strain from the puree or fresh passionfruit pulp.

How do you extract passion fruit juice from the fruit?

Many people simply remove the pulp from the fruit, blend it with a small amount of water, and strain out what remains of the seeds. However, you might have little black dots from the seeds that you can see in the cheesecake this way. So, I prefer to do it a little differently.

The quickest way to extract the juice without breaking the seeds is by pressing them inside a cheesecloth or cloth napkin. To try this way, follow these steps:

1. Place a large strainer over a bowl.
2. Then, cover the strainer with a fine cloth napkin or cheesecloth and pour the passion fruit pulp onto the cloth.
3. Hold the napkin by the four corners and close it, forming a pouch. Then, with your hands, proceed to squeeze the pulp until it has released all its juice.

How should I store leftover passion fruit cheesecake?

Store any leftover cheesecake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days!

Passion Fruit Cheesecake

Easy recipe for passion fruit cheesecake. This delicious dessert has a cookie crust base, a creamy layer prepared with cream cheese, passion fruit juice, eggs, and sugar, and a passion fruit sauce topping.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert, Sweets

Cuisine: American, Fusion, International, Latin American

Keyword: Cheesecake, Cookie dough crust, Creamy, Maracuya, Passion fruit, Tangy

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours

Servings: 10 to 12 portions

Ingredients

For the cheesecake cookie base:

• 240 grams of Maria type cookies or Graham crackers – 240 grams=8.5 ounces=15 graham crackers or 2 packs of Maria cookies
• 1 stick of unsalted butter 4 ounces or ~115 grams of melted butter
• 2 tablespoons of sugar

For the passion fruit cheesecake filling:

• 2 packs of cream cheese, room temperature 2 packs = 16 ounces = ~500 grams of cream cheese
• 6 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¾ cup pure passion fruit juice
• 1 ½ cups of sugar 1 ½ cups of sugar= 300 grams= 10.5 ounces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the passion fruit syrup or sauce:

• ½ cup passion fruit juice – you can include a little of the pulp with the seeds if you wish
• 1 cup of sugar 200 grams =7 ounces

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F.
• Crush the cookies in the blender or food processor. Before starting, make sure the blender glass is completely dry. Crush the cookies in batches in the blender jar or the food processor container.
• Blend them until they turn into a powder. If you don’t have a blender, put the cookies in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
• In a medium bowl, add the crushed cookies, the melted butter, and the two tablespoons of sugar.
• Mix all the ingredients until you have a dough similar in consistency to beach sand.
• Line a 9-inch (22 cm) round springform baking pan with parchment paper. Cut out a circle for the base and a long sheet for the sides. The parchment paper should be higher than the baking pan sides.
• Pour all of the cookie/cracker mixture onto the pan and spread it evenly on the base and sides of the pan using your fingers. You can use a glass or the bottom of a measuring cup to help compact and even out the cookie layer.
• Bake the cookie crust in the preheated oven (150C/350F) for ten minutes until golden.
• While the cookie crust is cooking, you can prepare the passion fruit cheesecake filling:
• Place the following ingredients in a large mixing bowl: cream cheese, eggs, cornstarch, passion fruit juice, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix well using a hand mixer until the mixture is completely homogeneous and smooth.
• Remove the mold from the oven and let it cool down. Then, pour the passion fruit cream cheese filling into the mold with the pre-baked cookie crust.
• Put the baking mold back in the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 150°C/350F, then lower the temperature to 100°C/215F for 20 minutes, and finally, before turning it off, cook it at 50°C/125F for 30 minutes.
• Let the cheesecake cool in the oven, for at least an hour. Then remove it from the oven and refrigerate it for at least two hours, ideally overnight or for several hours.
• To prepare the passion fruit syrup sauce, put ½ cup passion fruit juice (including some passion fruit pulp with seeds if desired) with 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, lower the heat and cook for about 25-30 minutes to thicken a little. Let it cool completely.
• To serve the cheesecake, unmold it and carefully remove the baking/parchment paper. Place the cheesecake on a serving plate.
• You can add the passion fruit sauce directly to the cheesecake, or you can serve each individual slice with the sauce on top.

More Passion Fruit Recipes to Try

1

Easy passion fruit mousse {Eggless}

Easy and quick recipe for passion fruit mousse made passion fruit concentrate (fresh or frozen), cream, and condensed milk. This simple version doesn’t use eggs or gelatin.

Check out this recipe

2

Passion fruit tiramisu

Passion fruit tiramisu recipe made with mascarpone, ladyfingers, eggs, sugar, rum and passion fruit.

Check out this recipe

3

Easy passion fruit pie {with cookie crumb crust}

Easy recipe for a creamy passion fruit pie made with a cookie crumb crust. The filling is made with passion fruit juice, egg yolks, and condensed milk. Served with whipped cream and fresh passion fruit pulp.

Check out this recipe

4

Strawberry passion fruit popsicles

Easy recipe for homemade strawberry passion fruit popsicles {paletas de fresa y maracuya}, these refreshing popsicles can be made with layers of strawberry juice and passion fruit juice, or using a mix of diced strawberries with passion fruit juice.

Check out this recipe

5

Mango passion fruit smoothie or batido de mango y maracuya

Mango passion fruit smoothie recipe made with fresh mango slices, passion fruit juice, lime, sugar or honey, and ice.

Check out this recipe

6

Passion fruit mojitos

Easy passion fruit mojito recipe made with passion fruit juice, simple syrup, rum, limes,mint and sparkling water.

Check out this recipe