My easy Passionfruit Cake made with fresh passionfruit. This moist and tender loaf cake is filled with passionfruit pulp, orange zest and Greek yogurt. A two-ingredient passionfruit glaze makes this Passionfruit Cake extra moist. It’s quick, easy and sure to be a household staple.
Meet my gorgeous Passionfruit Cake ☀️
This simple loaf cake boasts a soft and super moist crumb and a crisp, sugary crust.
It’s bursting with passionfruit flavour, thanks to oodles of fresh passionfruit pulp and zingy orange zest.
Drizzled with a two-ingredient passionfruit icing while it’s still warm, means this cake is extra moist and extra flavourful. Best of all, it’s super simple to make!
why you will love this recipe
- It’s quick and easy to make
- The cake is surprisingly soft and moist (and stays that way for days)
- It’s bursting with passionfruit flavour
- You can freeze the cake to enjoy at a later date
recipe testing
Oh Passionfruit Cake, you!
I didn’t think this recipe would be hard to craft but it took me six tries to get it just right. I started by altering my popular Butter Cake recipe to include fresh passionfruit pulp in the batter.
The result was a strange cake with an oily crumb and a crumbled crust (picture one below). So I reduced the amount of eggs and milk and found the cake was much better – but a little on the dry side.
I tried a few more times, experimenting with differing amounts of butter, flour, eggs, milk and passionfruit. The cakes weren’t bad – we happily ate them – but I just didn’t think they were amazing.
So after test 5, I decided to shake things up and try a loaf-style cake instead. I took inspiration from my favourite Lemon Drizzle Cake which uses yogurt in the batter for extra moisture.
And volia! This Passionfruit Cake was everything I had wanted and more! It was soft, tender and very, very moist.
While the cake was warm, I added a two-ingredient passionfruit glaze. Bing, bam, boom, it was now also bursting with zesty passionfruit flavour.
ingredients
You don’t need any hard-to-find ingredients to make this beautiful buttery Passionfruit Cake. Fresh passionfruit is the way to go here (more on that below), but I’ve detailed each ingredient below. Here’s a snapshot:
- Unsalted butter
- Caster sugar: Or granulated sugar
- Vanilla bean paste: Or vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Fresh passionfruit: I tested this recipe using fresh passionfruit (which works wonderfully well). You can use 100% passionfruit pulp but beware that most canned passion fruit syrup or passion fruit pulp has water and sugar added to it. That’s not ideal for this cake as it will alter the taste and texture. You want pure, fresh passionfruit pulp or lilikoi puree if possible.
- Greek or natural style yogurt: Yogurt is the secret ingredient in this cake that makes it super moist. If you don’t have full fat Greek or natural-style yogurt, full fat sour cream would be the next best thing.
- Plain flour: Or all purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Orange zest
- Icing sugar: Or powdered sugar
how to make passionfruit cake
My Passionfruit Cake is wonderfully easy to make. You will need an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar – this ensures your cake has a lovely light and tender texture.
Here’s how to make my passionfruit loaf in five simple steps. Full detailed instructions are included in the recipe card below:
- Beat together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer until creamy and pale.
- Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Beat until combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir together fresh passionfruit pulp and yogurt.
- Add flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest to creamed butter, followed by passionfruit yogurt.
- Stir using a spatula until combined. Cake batter will be very thick. Pour batter into a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan to bake.
Passionfruit Cake is then baked until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave cake to cool slightly on a wire rack before pouring over the passionfruit glaze.
how to make passionfruit icing
Passionfruit icing is made using just two ingredients: icing sugar (or powdered sugar) and fresh passionfruit. It makes for a perfect drippy glaze that can be poured over a warm cake. Here’s how to make it:
- Add sifted icing sugar to a large bowl.
- Add passionfruit pulp and stir until smooth.
I prefer to leave the seeds of the passionfruit in for ease. If you want to remove them, you can sieve your passionfruit pulp before adding it to your icing sugar.
Just keep in mind you’ll need more passionfruit to make up the volume though!
And don’t forget to sift your icing sugar first for a lump-free icing.
fresh passionfruit or canned passionfruit?
When I designed this recipe, I wanted to create a flavourful Passionfruit Cake that really popped with passionfruit flavour.
During my research and recipe testing process, I noted that much of the passionfruit pulp sold at supermarkets contained added water and sugar – and was not 100% pulp.
This weakened the passionfruit flavour and also changed the ratio of liquid and sugar in the recipe.
Using only fresh passionfruit ensures both the cake and the icing boast maximum passionfruit flavour every time.
If you can’t get hold of fresh passionfruit, you can use lilikoi puree. Or wait until the next passionfruit season – it’ll be worth the wait!
recipe tips
Here are my expert tips to ensure your Passionfruit Cake turns out perfect every time:
- Use a baking scale: To ensure accuracy, I recommend using a baking scale to measure your ingredients – particularly your butter and flour. Too much flour will mean your cake will be dry, too much butter, oily and wet.
- Choose the right cake pan: I recommend using a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan for best results. That’s what I’ve used here. If you change the size or shape of the loaf, you will have to adjust the cooking time. For example: a large 8-inch round cake will cook much faster.
- Don’t overmix your cake batter: Once you have added all the ingredients, simply stir the cake batter using a spatula or large metal spoon until no more streaks of flour remain. Your cake batter will be super thick – this is fine. Over-mixing your cake batter will make your cake dry and tough.
- Add icing while cake is warm: The perfect time to add your passionfruit glaze on top of the cake is while it is still warm from the oven. This will ensure the icing sinks down into the cake, helping to create a moist, flavourful crumb, and a lovely crisp crust.
frequently asked questions
Yes. You can follow this recipe and use a round 8-inch cake pan instead. It will bake much quicker, so I recommend checking the cake around the 30 minute mark. You’ll know it’s ready when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
You can use canned passionfruit pulp if it’s 100% passionfruit pulp. Many canned passionfruit pulps are actually in syrup with water and and sugar added – they won’t produce the same results. If possible, fresh passionfruit is the way to go.
Yes! You could top this cake with passionfruit curd as well (or instead of) the passionfruit icing or serve it on the side.
This cake is delicious served on its own. Or you could add a dollop of whipped cream and fresh strawberries on the side.
Keep leftover Passionfruit Cake in an airtight container at room temperature. Alternatively, tightly wrap leftover Passionfruit Cake slices in plastic wrap and place in the freezer. Then thaw at room temperature or microwave for 20-30 seconds until warm when you want to enjoy a slice.
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Let’s Bake
Passionfruit Cake recipe
Soft and moist Passionfruit Loaf Cake made with fresh passionfruit.
Ingredients
Passionfruit cake
- 115 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 90 grams (1/3 cup) fresh passionfruit pulp (approximately 3 passionfruits)
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) full fat Greek or natural style yogurt
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest of 1 large orange, finely grated
Passionfruit icing
- 90 grams (3/4 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 65 grams (1/4 cup) fresh passionfruit pulp (approximately 2 passionfruits)
Instructions
- Passionfruit cake
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with baking or parchment paper, ensuring two sides overhang. - In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy – approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add vanilla, and eggs, one at a time, and beat briefly to combine – don’t worry if the mixture goes a little bit lumpy at this stage – then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, stir together passionfruit pulp (seeds and all) and yogurt. Then add flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest to creamed butter mixture, along with the passionfruit yogurt.
- Mix by hand using a spatula or large metal spoon until the cake batter is combined (but try not to over-mix). It will be very thick.
- Spoon cake batter into your prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for approximately 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Set cake aside on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes.
- Passionfruit icing
Mix together icing sugar and passionfruit pulp. Pour icing all over cake while it is still warm. - Use the parchment or baking paper to carefully remove cake from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Passionfruit: I recommend using fresh passionfruit in this recipe. Alternatively, 100% fresh passionfruit pulp or puree will work but double check the ingredients. Store-bought passionfruit pulp is often actually watered down with sugar added, which is why fresh passionfruit works best.
Greek yogurt: If you do not have access to Greek yogurt, full fat sour cream would be the next best thing.
Storage: This cake is best eaten on the day it’s made, however, it will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze it to maintain maximum freshness. I like to wrap any leftover slices in plastic wrap and freeze them. Then I just warm the slices in the microwave as needed.
Cake pan: You can follow this recipe and use a round 8-inch cake pan instead. It will bake much quicker, so check the cake around the 30 minute mark. You’ll know it’s ready when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Nutrition Information
Aimee says
As always, this recipe was delicious. The cake is very moist and is easy to make.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Aimee!
Josh says
Very moist! Loved it.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked it!
Cari says
I never see fresh passion fruit where I live, but I do see my local store has 12oz bags of frozen seedless passion fruit. Does that sound like a good option for this bread?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Cari, I haven’t tested this recipe with frozen passionfruit but it could be worth a try. You’d need to thaw the passionfruit pulp first. My main concern is that frozen fruits tend to be more bitter/sour so it may not offer the same sweetness as fresh, ripe passionfruit.
Cari says
Okay, thank you Jessica