Pawpaw Recipe Round-Up

Unlike most tree fruits that you can store and take advantage of for weeks, the pawpaw is only ripe for 2-4 days, making a tight window for one to enjoy this unusual, mild flavored fruit.

It’s rare to find in stores or even restaurants, so if you love the taste, this is absolutely a fruit you’ll want to grow in your own orchard or garden.

Once your fruit is ripe, you’ll want quick and easy recipes to take advantage of the harvest.

Here at Stark Bro’s, we’re in the middle of pawpaw harvesting from our scion orchards in Louisiana, Mo. Not about to let the sweet fruits go to waste, we tested several recipes we discovered thanks to some recommendations from customers and staff.

Each recipe we’re sharing can be made in less than five minutes, and is easy to make for a group. Our four-year-old taste testers were also fans, so they’re sure to be a hit with your kids, too!

Sweet & Mild Pawpaw Smoothie Recipe

Prep Time: 5 min. | Serves: 1-2
Ingredients:

2 cups of fully ripe pawpaw fruit (scooped into measuring cup)
1 cup of ice cubes
1.5 cups of milk (coconut, almond or dairy all work, we used and enjoyed almond)
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Optional Add Ins for taste or a nutritional boost:

If you’re using this as a meal, we’d recommend adding 1-2 servings of vanilla protein powder
1 teaspoon Chia Seeds
1 teaspoon Flax Seeds
2 pinches Toasted Coconut
Honey to taste
1/3 Cup Frozen, pureed spinach (the taste disappears, making it a great green to “hide” in a smoothie)

**DO NOT EAT PAWPAW SEEDS, THEY ARE TOXIC**

DIRECTIONS:

As with all smoothies, your personal preference for consistency & sweetness should guide you! Play with the ingredients until you find exactly what you like.

Add pawpaw, ice, vanilla and milk to blender and blend until smooth. If ice fails to completely blend, add more milk as needed.
Add in extras for nutritional impact and taste.
Serve Immediately

Pawpaw & Vanilla Ice Cream

A customer of ours, Luis, recently shared with us that his favorite way to enjoy pawpaws was simply to place the most ripe, sweet pawpaw fruit at the bottom of an ice cream dish and top with vanilla ice cream.

The two flavors seem to be a match made in heaven, because after all our testing, this was our very favorite way to enjoy pawpaw!

Prepare this dessert in two easy steps:

Scrape the pawpaw fruit into the bottom of a dish and gently mash with a spoon.
Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (We used handmade ice cream from popular St. Louis destination Clementine’s and their Madagascar vanilla was the perfect partner to the pawpaws)

Bonus: If you used toasted coconut for the smoothie recipe above, add as a garnish to your ice cream for a fun, extra touch!

Ultimately, the best thing about a prolific harvest, like what you’ll experience when you plant a Stark Bro’s pawpaw tree, is the opportunity to share the wealth with friends and family.

We hope these recipes put a smile on your face… and on the faces of the ones you love.

Happy Pawpaw Harvesting!