I hate egg fruit. It might sound weird to write a post about a fruit you just don’t like, but it’s true. Everything about the egg fruit is enticing. The sweetheart shape of it is simply darling. The bright yellow outside reflects the sunshine that helped create it. The smooth buttery skin of it says, “You know I look good!” But that’s where the love affair pretty much ends for me and the egg fruit. The inside is chalky and creamy at the same time. A custard sweetness with hints of vanilla, and a slight grassy back flavor. On its own, it is my least favorite of fruits on the island. But let it ripen, to a soft richness, and the flesh of it MUST end up in a pie! Then I stop hating and start loving! Then it becomes worthy of a post and a celebration!

They are communal fruits, hanging together in clumps from the tree. Clusters of eggy-fruit goodness! I’m putting together an egg fruit pie recipe in the coming summer months, or even an egg fruit creme brulee? Hmmm… The egg fruit possibilities are endless!

The Egg Fruit is related to the sapodilla fruit. You can see that one solid mahogany brown seed in it’s center is reminiscent of the solitary oversized ebony seed of the  sapodilla. But unlike its cousin, its interior is drier and more chalky. My husband can eat these fruits all day long. He savors the sweet, caramel flavor of it on its own. But a fellow Egg Fruit lover friend Robin Freeman suggested I use it as a replacement to pumpkin pie. I doubted her at first, but then decided to try it out. Wow! Just wow! Pumpkin and sweet potato have NOTHING on this fruit in terms of inborn flavor!

Check it out, if you are on island, or start packing if your not since they are showing off their bounty this summer and bearing like crazy!

Enjoy!