This easy passion fruit drizzle cake makes a perfect bake for any occasion. Beautiful, light and moist texture and sweet and tangy flavours of passion fruit and lime create the most delicious combination.
If you love the idea of simple, everyday cake that is wonderfully moist and full of flavour, today's post is for you!
This passion fruit drizzle cake ticks literally all of the boxes. Beautiful texture, fantastic flavours and simple, yet very effective appearance. It is perfect as the every day tea cake, but can equally be served for any special occasion.
Simple passion fruit drizzle cake
What I really love about this passion fruit loaf is the simplicity of it. This beautiful, moist sponge soaked in sweet and tangy passion fruit and lime syrup is ideal with your afternoon tea, but also perfect to celebrate any big occasions. No fancy equipment needed, everything is mixed in one bowl, and it is made with very basic ingredients.
Tips for making passion fruit cake
Make sure the butter is super soft. I recommend taking it out of the fridge at least an hour and a half before baking. Cream the butter and sugar together for at least 3 minutes. It should be light and fluffy before adding eggs to it.
When adding eggs, make sure to only add a little bit at a time. Mix it well after each addition. This will help you to avoid the cake batter curdling.
Sift the flour! Small, but important step! Sifted flour is much lighter and easier to mix with other ingredients. It also eliminates any lumps or clumps.
Fold the batter gently. When adding the flour and cream to the batter, mix it gently. That means no stirring, beating or agitating the cake mixture. I find using rubber/ silicone spatula works best for folding the batter.
Poke the cake all over with cocktail stick or skewer. This way you will create little holes which will be filled with that delicious, sweet and tangy juice. This is what gives this cake it's incredible flavour.
Why to use sour cream in cake recipe?
If you are wondering why we are using soured cream in a sweet cake, let me quickly explain. Soured cream is a single cream that's been soured using an added bacteria culture. The bacteria culture sours and thickens the cream.
There can be many reasons for adding sour cream to cake batter, but the most common one is to add an extra moisture, without thinning the cake batter too much. Adding sour cream to bakes also creates creamier and richer texture of the cake. If you never used this ingredient in your baking before, I urge you to give it a try!
Can I substitute sour cream?
Yes you can. It can be replaced by the equal amount of Greek yogurt (just like in my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe), buttermilk or coconut cream. Whichever substitute you are using, make sure to mix it well before adding to cake batter.
I have tested this recipe with yogurt and coconut cream and both worked beautifully.
How to store this cake
This passion fruit drizzle cake will keep well at room temperature in the airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to a month. Simply thaw it in the fridge overnight.
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Passion Fruit Drizzle Cake
Equipment
- 900 g loaf tin
- baking parchment
- electric mixer
- spatula
- pastry brush
- cocktail stick/ skewer
Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter very soft
- 250 g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs room temperature, beaten
- 250 g self-rising flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 160 ml sour cream room temperature
- 3 medium passion fruit
- 2 medium limes
- 60 g caster sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C (fan). Grease and line the 900 g loaf baking tin with baking parchment (leave plenty overhanging).
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add roughly about 1 tbsp of egg, mix until fully combined and repeat with the remaining egg until all of the egg has been incorporated, only adding a little bit at a time.
- Sift in half of the flour and salt and fold gently using spatula, until combined. Add cream and fold again until fully combined. Sift in the remaining flour and fold gently once more, until combined. You should have smooth, soft batter. Transfer the batter to baking tin and smooth the top with spatula. Place in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
- Spoon out all of the the passion fruit pulp into a sieve and press it with spatula to extract the juice. Reserve 2-3 tsp of passion fruit seeds and rinse them under the water. Set aside. Juice the limes and mix the lime juice with passion fruit juice.
- Using a cocktail stick or a long skewer, poke the holes all over the cake, then brush ½ of the juice over the top of the cake. Mix the remaining ½ of the juice with passion fruit seeds and caster sugar and pour over the top of the cake. Allow to set before serving. Enjoy!
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Video
Notes
- You will need 900 g loaf baking tin for this recipe
- If you don't have self-rising flour, please read this post to check how to make your own substitute
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Girish
Amazing recipe! Definitely gonna try. Quick question though, can I add in the passion fruit pulp directly into the batter before it goes into the oven? Or does that affect the texture of the cake?
Anna
Hi Girish, thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. I haven't tried adding the pulp directly to the cake batter, so I can't say for sure, but there is a small possibility that it will affect the texture of the cake. I would suggest to add passion fruit pulp only (without the lime juice) to your cake batter, and perhaps use lime juice for drizzle. Let me know if you try it, I would love to know what results did you get!
Alison Gray
I have made 9 of these stunning cakes for the people in my village here in England called staithes. For the drizzle inside I used passion fruit juice, pineapple juice and lime juice with a small amount of caster sugar. The topping I mixed mascarpone and tropical twist curd with vodka and decorated it with kiwi fruits and passion fruit. Every single person who ate my cakes all said that they were sublime so I thought I’d share this tip with you as an added extra.
Anna
Alison, your feedback literally just made my day! So happy to hear that you've been baking and supplying these cakes in your village! I wish you were my neighbour! Love the idea of mascarpone with curd for the topping and using different juices for drizzle, I'm so trying it! Thank you so much for taking time to write and rate this recipe!
Alison Gray
Doing another two this morning as we speak. My acupuncture lady and dear friend and the local hair dressers. One of my neighbours suggested that I enter the cake the way I do it to next years hinderwell country village show here in England. She used to be a judge in the home baking category and said she’d tasted nothing as delicious as this cake and was sure to get something in prizes and maybe winning first prize with it. So I’m going to take her up on her idea and do it. So I’ll keep you posted with the result. Yes I decorate the cake with sliced kiwi fruit and passion fruit seeds on top of the mascarpone cream. The only trouble is as I’m diabetic I make all of these stunning cakes and I can’t eat any of them which is a real shame as I know I’d thoroughly enjoy it.
Marwin Brown
I love the sour cream idea. That’s a great tip and something a “non-baker” like me would never have thought of. I’m sure the cake is as moist as it looks!
Anna
Hi Marwin, thanks so much! Glad to hear you found my sour cream tip useful. It creates the best texture and the most wonderful crumb in bakes. I hope you will try it soon!
LINDSEY PINE
What a great way to get a taste of the tropics in a sweet treat! I adore passionfruit!
Anna
Thanks Lindsey, I really like it too, the taste of passion fruit always and forever reminds me of tropical holiday!
Melanie
Omg this is so original and it looks so moist and delicious. Totally my kind of cake to go with my coffee!
Anna
Thanks Melanie, it is perfect bake with your favourite cuppa! Hope you will try it soon!
Mikayla
First, your photos are gorgeous! Second, what a delicious cake! I’ve never used passion fruit before, it was a whim buy at the store but I’m glad I did, we loved every slice, thanks for sharing.
annabanana
Aww you're so sweet Mikayla! Thank you so much, glad you like the photos, and even happier to hear that you've enjoyed the recipe!
Kushigalu
How beautiful and interesting cake recipe is this. Must try !
Anna
Thanks so much, hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!
Jacqui DeBono
Gorgeous photos! I have never used passion fruit in a recipe, but I make a cake once a week for having with our tea, and so I must try this!
annabanana
Thanks Jacqui! I hope you will make this for your weekly bake soon, passion fruit adds such a lovely, zesty fresh and sweet flavour!
Amy Liu Dong
Such a wonderful recipe, it's definitely look so delicious. Loved the texture and the finished product is mesmerizing.
Anna
Thank you so much Amy, it is one of my favourite cakes at the moment! So glad you like it too!
veenaazmanov
I am just drooling sensing the flavor of this cake. Looks so moist and flavorful and super delicious too.
Anna
Thanks Veena, passion fruit adds so much of that sweet and zingy, tangy flavour. And I just love the extra crunch from the seeds too!
Tara
First of all, Your pictures are gorgeous and super helpful too! The cake turned and nice and moist. Even my nephew loved it!
Anna
That's so kind of you Tara, thanks so much! I'm over the moon to hear that you and your nephew enjoyed this cake!
Kate
This cake is absolutely beautiful! I love passion fruit but I never buy it because I’m not sure what to do with it. So, I’m excited to try this recipe!
Anna
Hey Kate! So glad to hear I've given you an idea for good use of passion fruit! It can be a tricky fruit to find a great use for and this bake is definitely a great way to do so!
Marie
We loved this cake, so yummy and moist. The passionfruit topping was perfect! 😋❤
annabanana
Hey Marie, thanks so much for your kind review and rating. I love sharing my bakes with you guys, and it stops me from eating the whole thing by myself 😉 The seeds of passion fruit on top do add lovely crunch, don't they? Hugs & enjoy your weekend! x
priya
yumm yumm. love this cake totally.
annabanana
Thanks Priya, it is a delicious bake!