I love all things parcha, aka passion fruit. If I see a cocktail or dish with passion fruit on the menu, I order it! That bright, tart flavor gets me every time. Earlier this year, I decided to add passion fruit puree to my Tembleque recipe, and voila, we got passion fruit tembleque. Tembleque, a popular Puerto Rican dessert made with coconut milk, sugar, and cornstarch, is the perfect summer dessert. It doesn’t require an oven, and it takes around 20 minutes to cook.
What’s Tembleque?
Tembleque comes from the word “temblar,” to shake in Spanish. The name is fitting because the cornstarch makes the custard wiggly once the dessert sets in the fridge. You usually find tembleques at local bakeries and supermarkets in Puerto Rico. The coconut ones are the most common, with a sprinkle of cinnamon to enhance the flavor.
Why Passion Fruit?
Passion fruit, a tropical fruit, grows on a vine, revealing an almost gelatinous yellow pulp with black seeds. It’s common to see it in desserts and juices in Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America. In Puerto Rico, it’s known as parcha, and it is known as maracuyá, parchita, or chinola. It’s one of my favorite fruits. I’ve never been into super sweet desserts, and the passion fruit tembleque strikes that balance between the creaminess of the coconut and the sharpness of the passion fruit.
How to Plate the Passion Fruit Tembleque
Passion fruit tembleque is a versatile dish: you can have it set in different molds. If I’m hosting an intimate dinner party, I love plating it in ramekins for individual-sized portions. I love serving it with a drizzle of melted guava paste. Another simple (and) pretty way to present the passion fruit tembleque is a novelty pan. I recently used my octopus-shaped bundt pan, and it looked great. Also, setting the tembleque in a rose-shaped bundt pan makes for a beautiful dessert centerpiece.
This recipe is straightforward to make, and bonus: it’s vegan AND gluten-free. You can find passion fruit puree at the frozen section of most Asian/Latin supermarkets.
PrintRecipe: Passion Fruit Tembleque
Passion fruit tembleque is a twist on the popular Puerto Rican dessert, tembleque, a coconut custard.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Ingredients
2 14oz Cans of Coconut Milk
1 14oz (1 3/4 cups) package of Passion Fruit Puree, thawed
1/2 Cup Cornstarch
2/3 Cup Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Instructions
Before turning on the stove, add all ingredients to a medium heavy saucepan, whisk well until the cornstarch has dissolved.
Cook the coconut milk mixture at medium-low heat, stirring often. I like to start with a whisk and transition to a wooden spoon once the custard thickens.
The mixture will start to thicken around ten minutes. If you don’t notice any thickening, add a bit more heat. Continue to stir.
Once the custard has thickened, remove it from heat and place it in the molds. Cover the tembleque with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 3 hours or ideally overnight until it sets. With a butter knife, loosen the tembleque from mold, invert, and garnish. I love using coconut flakes or melted guava paste.
