Paw Paw Custard

I made paw paw custard and it is fantastic. 

The inside of the paw paw should be soft and mushy if ripe. Squeeze the pulp out of the fruit. I used a grapefruit spoon to get the last bits. The seeds are huge and need to come out as well. Seeds have a protective coating; if you cut a bit of the coating you can peel it off the seed. Paw paws oxidize soon after being cut— a bit of lemon juice keeps them from turning rust colored.

I had one ripe and one not-quite-ripe paw paw. I cut the skin off the unripe paw paw and chopped it into small pieces. Put chopped pieces in a pot with a little bit of lemon juice, sugar and water to steam. It had a consistency/taste more like a tart green apple. I used a potato masher to soften the cooked paw paw.

I was able to get 3/4 cups pulp from the two paw paws. Some recipes suggest putting the pulp through a sieve to gain a smooth consistency. I didn’t have enough pulp if I did that so I kept it more like mashed bananas.

Purdue University has some great recipes. I followed the first paw paw custard recipe— adaptation of the custard pie one. It was simple and really good. Like a fresh banana pudding. I want to try more!

https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ksu-pawpaw/cooking.html#PIES