Frances Kitabayashi would like to make use of the lilikoi growing in her yard by making lilikoi butter, a treat handy as a spread for toast, a topping on pancakes, a filling for parfaits.
I had hoped to find someone with a tested and reliable recipe, and my wish was granted, twice over.
Emily Deai has been making her butter for years, at first using fruit from her vine. Since her plant stopped producing, friends whose vines were started using Deai’s fruit give her lilikoi. Circle of life.
Deai says a friend gave her a list of ingredients and she developed her own method. Her top tips: Beat the eggs very well so no little solid bits end up in your butter, and use a double boiler to prevent burning.
A second recipe, which uses twice as much sugar and three times the lilikoi juice to the same amount of butter and eggs, comes from Amber Iwamoto, who says her mother, Leatrice Kishii, has been making it for years to sell at the annual bazaar at the Higashi Hongwanji Mission in Hilo.
Iwamoto has never made the butter herself, but swears to its deliciousness. She said her mother once mailed her four bottles to share at her own church, Olivet Baptist in Honolulu. "Everybody who tried it just totally raved. We had a little left over, and everybody was fighting over it."
She also says the butter, if sealed in a sterilized jar, is shelf stable, meaning you can store it unrefrigerated until you open the jar. She’s stored it in her cupboard for a couple of months. But because of the butter and eggs in the recipe, her mother refrigerates her jars, just to be safe.
Deai does the same, leaving her jars out for no more than a day or so.
By the way, if you’ve never juiced a lilikoi, you simply cut it in half and scoop the pulp into a strainer (Kishii uses cheesecloth). Use a spoon to force as much juice as you can out of the pulp.
And I’m sure someone is going to ask whether frozen juice concentrate can be used in place of fresh. The answer: You can try but you’re on your own. Thaw the concentrate and don’t dilute it. Use less sugar, as those concentrates are sweetened.
LILIKOI BUTTER 1
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 to 2/3 cup fresh lilikoi (passion fruit) juice
Melt butter in double boiler.
Beat eggs very well. Stir in sugar and lilikoi juice. Slowly add to melted butter, continuing to cook 10 to 12 minutes while stirring constantly so eggs do not curdle. Pour into sterilized jars. Fills about 3 8-ounce jars.
LILIKOI BUTTER 2
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
4 large eggs, beaten
4 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups fresh lilikoi juice
Melt butter over medium heat.
In large bowl, combine sugar and beaten eggs; mix well. Add lilikoi juice slowly, stirring constantly. Add mixture to melted butter, stirring constantly. Bring to full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring so that eggs do not curdle. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, to desired consistency. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.
Refrigerate after opening. Fills 5 to 6 8-ounce jars.
Nutritional information unavailable.
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