Serves 6
10-12 passionfruit
¾ cup caster sugar, plus
1⅔ cups extra
1½ tbsp vodka, plus 1 tbsp extra
500g crème fraîche
1 tbsp finely grated lime zest
¼ cup lime juice
Remove pulp from passionfruit. Push through a sieve. Reserve 2 teaspoons seeds. You will need ⅔ cup juice. Combine passionfruit juice and ¾ cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes or until thick and syrupy. Cool, stir in reserved seeds and vodka. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Combine extra caster sugar and 1⅔ cups water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Simmer 1 minute. You will need 2¼ cups syrup. Refrigerate until well chilled.
Place a 1.4 litre metal loaf tin in freezer. Combine chilled sugar syrup, crème fraîche, lime zest and lime juice in a large jug. Transfer to an ice-cream machine and freeze according to instructions.
When done, working quickly, spoon half the gelato into loaf tin; smooth the surface. Drop four spoonfuls of passionfruit syrup onto gelato. Swirl gently with a flat-bladed knife to create a ripple effect. Top with remaining ice-cream. Repeat with 4 more spoonfuls of passionfruit syrup. Freeze 4 hours or until firm.
Stir extra vodka into remaining passionfruit syrup. Serve gelato drizzled with extra passionfruit syrup.
TIP: To extract maximum juice from passionfruit pulp, process pulp in a food processor for 30 seconds to loosen seeds.