Passionfruit, for those of us living in warmer climates, is a staple of summer. The interior of the fruit is vibrant, aromatic, and delicious; rather lucky as the exterior of the fruit has the appearance of a pickled testicle. The rich sweetness of the flesh is balanced by a tart acidity, making the fruit both versatile and adept at enhancing other flavours – it is equally at home in a bourbon or gin based beverage, and certainly knows its way around a stein full of tiki-based pleasure.

When making chutneys or jams, a combination of cooked and fresh fruit often produces the fullest flavour, so that process was opted for here. In the face of so much sugar and passionfruit the mint is rather subtle, it adds complexity and serves to highlight the flavour of the fruit. The amount of mint can be adjusted to suit your taste or intended use, or omitted entirely if you so desire.

It’s worth noting that our most recent batch of this syrup lasted about 3 days in the fridge, on account of it making a particularly excellent cordial. I strongly recommend a splash of it with soda water over ice, plus a few fresh mint leaves to garnish. If you suffer from a medieval European suspicion of water on it’s own (don’t you? Shouldn’t you?), you could always “disinfect” it with a generous splash of gin.

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Passionfruit & Mint Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
½ cup passionfruit juice & seeds (roughly 6-8 passion fruit) plus a few additional passionfruit
Handful fresh mint leaves

Mix water, sugar, and the ½ cup of passion fruit in a pan. Place over a medium high heat, make sure the sugar dissolves, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer then remove from the heat after 1-2 minutes. Stir in the flesh from the remaining passionfruit and the mint leaves, cover, and let stand for a few hours. Strain out the solids, then bottle.
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