Lilikoi (passion fruit) butter: tart yet slightly sweet, vibrant yellow goodness that pairs perfectly with toast, pancakes, tarts, cheesecake. A delectable island treat waiting for you to try.
Lilikoi butter in Hawai’i is almost like maple syrup in Canada. A popular condiment seen in many restaurants and home kitchens. Super simple to make and sure to please.
What are lilikoi?
Lilikoi or passion fruit is a common fruit in Hawai’i. If you are looking for a little more information on lilikoi check out my blog post on lilikoi lemonade.
Looking for other sweet treats? Try these dessert favorites
Where can I find lilikoi?
If you live in Hawai’i chances are you know someone who has a vine. If not local farmers markets are often filled with these fruit. And of course for my mainland friends you can purchase the puree on Amazon.
What’s the best way to juice lilikoi?
Lilikoi have a tough outer skin filled with yellow pulp and many black seeds. The seeds are edible, but I prefer to separate out the seeds. I find the best way to juice a lilikoi is to cut the lilikoi in half and scoop out the pulp and seeds with a spoon. Then place into a strainer and push the liquid through the strainer. Alternatively you can scoop out the pulp and mix in a blender, seeds and all. Or if you prefer you can make the butter with the seeds intact.
What can I use lilikoi butter on?
- Toast
- Pancakes
- Waffles
- Bagels
- Muffins
- In tarts
- On cheesecake
How to store lilikoi butter?
Once lilikoi butter has been made, you can pour the warm contents straight into a sterilized canning jar and place the lid on. Leave at room temperature to cool down and the jar will self seal.
How to sterilize canning jars?
Place jars into a boiling pot of water being sure it is completely submerged. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove and let jar air dry.
Does lilikoi butter need to be refrigerated?
I would recommend once the lilikoi butter has cooled to room temperature, it be stored in the refrigerator.
How long does liliko’i butter last?
The butter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Can you freeze liliko’i butter?
Yes. I prefer to eat mine fresh, however it can be frozen for a few months.
What do I need to make lilikoi butter?
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Lilikoi juice
- Unsalted butter
How to make lilikoi butter?
Place heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water set to medium high heat, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water, to create a double boiler. Add eggs and sugar. Stir to combine. Then pour in lilikoi juice and continue to stir. Once well combined add butter. Continue to stir until liquid begins to thicken and able to coat the back of a spoon or about 10-15 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and place lid. Let cool at room temperature. Once cool place in refrigerator.
Lilikoi Butter
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup lilikoi juice
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
Instructions
- Place heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water set to medium high
heat, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water, to create a
double boiler. - Add eggs and sugar. Stir to combine.
- Then pour in lilikoi juice and continue to stir.
- Once well combined add butter. Continue to stir until liquid begins to thicken and able to coat the back of a spoon or about 10-15 minutes.
- Pour in to sterilized jars and place lid. Let cool at room temperature. Once cool place in refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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Thank you! Have made lemon curd from a great recipe since the 60’s, and thought I would be able to possibly be able to exchange Lilikoi for the lemon. Haven’t had the chance to try since hard to find, but in Los Angeles, so think maybe Asian markets might have it.
And thrilled to see the two recipes are almost identical! Mahalo again!
Hi Rita. Yes totally able to exchange it. You can find lilikoi puree on Amazon. And I think the Asian markets would be a great place to check as well. Let me know how it goes. Have a wonderful day!
Would you mine sharing your lemon curd recipe?
Hi Donna. I honestly make lilikoi all the time instead of lemon. I suppose you could swap out the lilikoi for lemon.
*There are other ways to make curds but the double boiler helps prevent the eggs from scrambling. Another option is to place all the ingredients except for the eggs into a sauce pan and heat, then add some of the heated liquid to the eggs to temper them, then pour it all back into the sauce pan and stir until thickened. Thanks for the recipe! Do you know approximately how many ounces (or cups) this makes? I want to make a big batch 🙂
This recipe will yield about 2 cups of liliko’i butter.
I have 2 lilikoi vines and am waiting for all the fruit to ripen. I love Lilikoi butter and will make your recipe as soon as I can. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe with us. It looks quite simple. Stay safe! Aloha
Perfect. Sounds great.
How long will it stay good in the fridge ?
About a week.
FYI it’s not safe to can anything with eggs and that much butter in it. Sorry this isn’t a safe canning recipe.
That you for your concerns. This is not a pressure sealed, airtight, shelf stable canning recipe. It simply uses a sterile mason jar as a vessel to hold while stored in the refrigerator.
It’s an awesome recipe! ‘Onoloa and not unsafe if the recipe is followed correctly. I’ve been growing and preparing lilikoi butter for years. Mahalo nui for sharing your recipes Relle! Always maika’i!
Aloha Lorna. Thank you so much. Have a great day.
Mahalo for the recipe! Our neighbor gifted us a ton of lilikoʻi, so we made two batches and now have plenty to share. So easy to make and so yummy! Definitely sunshine in a bottle for this rainy weather. 🙂
Nice. Perfect use of liliko’i. If you haven’t tried the liliko’i bars recipe you’ve got to give that a try. So ‘ono!
How many fruit on needed to yield 1/2 juice?
It really varies on the size of the fruit and how much juice is in the fruit. A medium liliko’i has about a tablespoon of juice so you’ll need about 8 on average.
Aloha Relle. Looks like we live across the island from you:?) Found your lovely recipe last year and it was an instant hit. Get requests often:?) Today, I mixed guava and lilikoi together, and it is so yummy:?) Mahalo for keeping it Relle!
Aloha Krissy. Ooh that sounds ‘ono. Thanks for sharing!
Is it possible to use salted butter? I don’t have any unsalted on hand.
You can. It’ll change the flavor slightly, but will still work.
Aloha Relle, huge fan of your channel due to the fact that I am from Maui. I currently live in Virginia now and I came across this recipe and I got so excited because it is a part of my childhood. I followed your recipe but the only thing I changed is I had to substitute the passion fruit with Goya passion fruit juice. For some reason it was not thickening do you know how to fix that? Mahalo.
Aloha Darryl. I’ve never used that brand before. Not sure if that makes a difference. Usually if it hasn’t thickened you just need to cook it down longer. Give it a go and let me know what happens. Have a great day.
why doesn’t my seem to thicken enough
Aloha Lori. If it’s too thin that means it was not cooked down long enough over the heat. You can return to the heat to continue cooking it down. It will not be firm like butter. It is a spreadable consistency. Hope that helps.
Aloha Rel,
I don’t have any ripe lilikoi so I bought some passion fruit honey puree by Vonbee at costco. It has some honey in it as well and is much thicker due to the Xanthan gum that is added. Should I cut down on the sugar????Its much sweeter than made from the picked fruit. Help!!!! Im trying to make some for Christmas. Am growing my own now so hopefully next year I won’t have this issue. Many blessings to you and your Ohana. Mele Kalikimaka
Aloha Linda. I’ve never used this before. I’d assume if there’s already honey in the passion fruit mix that you should cut back on some sugar. I wouldn’t be able to tell you how much though. Start with less and add more if need be. Good luck. Let me know how it goes. Happy Holidays.
Sooo good and super easy to make. Adding this to our family favorite recipes!
This recipe works very well. I get some curds in the bottom but remove them with a tea strainer. We have se very productive vines here, so I freeze the juice in ice cube trays to have a year round supply.
Aloha. So awesome to hear. Thank you for sharing.