passion(fruit)

i discovered the magical deliciousness of the passion fruit on my first trip to brazil over 13 years ago (and i love the portuguese word for the fruit, maracuja). it is the loveliest and most fragrant of tropical fruits and to this day i can't forget my first sip of the life changing nectar and the delicious grilled 'peixe tropical ao molho de maracuja' served at restaurante aprazivel in rio. 

passion fruits are pretty hard to come by in these parts, so imagine my jump for joy delight when i saw them at my local grocers this past weekend and got 3 perfectly ripe beauties from mp, courtesy of the santa monica farmers market. 
i threw myself a maracuja party on sunday; mixing the fragrant pulp with butter, spread over crusty bread for breakfast and later made this yummy moist passion fruit pound cake from an old washington post recipe. 
the plan is to go to the farmers market tomorrow morning, buy the whole lot and stock up for winter. passion fruit hoarders!