Passion fruit iced 'smoothies'

This morning I had a killer headache and was feeling a bit sorry for myself so when I saw a ‘granadilla iced smoothie’ (granadilla is the South African word for passion fruit) on the deli menu where I was, I instantly knew it would make me feel better. And it did. It was so refreshing and delicious and to make it that bit more superior to other smoothies, jucies or frappes, it was totally guilt free. I asked the waitress to tell me how it was made and it’s very simple. Believe me, you’re going to want to give it a try for yourself. Oh and for anyone who isn’t a smoothie fan (I’m not really, juice is way better), this is not a smoothie at all as there is no yoghurt or anything creamy.

You will need:

5 passion fruits

Ice

Stevia or a healthy sweetner alternative (NOT aspartame or equivalent)

Sparkling water

Method:

1)Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop out the pulp into a bowl

2)Add a pinch of stevia to the passion fruit and taste. It shouldn’t be too sweet yet you don’t want it sour either.

3)In a blender, whizz up a cup or 2 of ice with a cup of sparkling water until smooth

4)Mix the passion fruit mix into the ice and stir until combined.

5)Relax and enjoy.

So while my headache was swiftly vanishing, I began to day dream about all things passion fruit. The first thing that came to mind was my mums passion fruit pavlova. Utter decadence. I think I’ll have to ask her for the recipe and share it with the world soon.

I also noticed how beautiful my iced smoothie looked in the glass which got me thinking something else -passion fruit ice cubes. (It turns out that other people have already had the same idea once I searched on the internet, but I still stand by the fact that I also came up with it myself!).

Its wonderfully easy to make these once again, and nothing looks prettier than a tall glass of lemonade or sparkling water with a few of these passion fruit ice cubes bobbing around. All you need to do is scoop out the pulp of a few passion fruits and pop them in the bottom of an ice cube tray. Fill the rest of the tray with the remaining juice and a dollop of water and whack in the freezer until frozen.

Oh, and before I go, how BEAUTIFUL do these ones look? Flower and mint ice cubes (which incidentally I found on a wedding website but nonetheless, I think you could create them for any occasion).

Method: (taken from www.utterlyengaged.com)

1)Fill ice cube trays one-third full with distilled water

2)Freeze for an hour then add small flowers or mint leaves

3)Add more water and freeze all the way