preserving persimmons.

so after eating a whole bunch of persimmons, i think i've been a little persimmoned out. i still had about 15 very ripe fruits left and i though i'd try my hand at making some jam or preserves. this recipe seemed easy enough, so i adapted a little bit and changed it here and there.

i used about 9 to 10 persimmons in my recipe. after debating for a hot minute, i decided to go through the "preserves" route...leaving the fruit semi-chunky. that meant that i didn't have to strain the pulp, and therefore reducing one step in the process. yay for laziness! then i slowly reduced it for over two hours and added a box of pectin that was dissolved in some water at the end. i let it boil, cooled to room temp, then stored it in the freezer. easy-peasy, if not a little time consuming making all that pulp. it did taste awesome with the persimmon bread though! would i try this again? maybe. probably with sweeter persimmons next time.

Persimmon Freezer Preserves
(adapted from Epicurious Community Table)

4 cups persimmon puree (i used 8 to 9 very ripe fuyu persimmons)
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
1 box fruit pectin
3/4 cup very hot water

Stir the fuyu persimmon puree, sugars, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt together in a large pot and let the mixture cook, over medium-low heat, until reduced by half (about 2 hours). Stir constantly to prevent the bottom from burning.

in a microwave safe bowl, heat the water on high for three minutes until it comes to a boil. Remove carefully and add the pectin gradually, stirring to prevent clumping. Once all of the pectin has dissolved, add to the puree mixture and stir. Increase heat and let come to a boil for about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle the preserves into clean jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace to allow for expansion during freezing. Once the jars are filled, put the lids on and let the preserves stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the freezer. Defrost in refrigerator before using.

Note: If keeping in the fridge, this will keep for about two weeks. If keeping in the freezer, preserves will keep for about a year.

persimmon schtick...

i'm in a persimmon schtick. having tried pudding last week, i thought i'd try my hand at making a quick bread this time around. this one was recently bookmarked on my pinterest board, despite it being two years old. i looked over the ingredients list this morning and decided to give it a shot.

man, i'm so glad i tried this recipe! it's nice and sweet and even though the whole thing is spiced with nutmeg (a spice i don't normally like), i found that it's used brilliantly in this bread! actually, the taste reminds me of eating pumpkin bread or christmas fruitcake. either way, this was fantastic and is a nice addition to the collection of seasonal recipes in my repertoire.

for this recipe, i did end up making a few changes (namely halving the recipe and swapping the liquor). i used overly ripe fuyu since i only had that on hand. i also changed out the whiskey for dark spiced rum...more my preference than necessity. didn't bother toasting the pecans too, i figured "recipe ready" was alright. also, did an almost 1:1 ratio of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. the result? it's got a nice nutty flavor, thanks to the pecans and whole wheat flour. the raisins and chopped dates stayed nice and evenly dispersed with the help of a flour coating. and the rum? well, rum makes everything all the more festive for this time of year! ;)

Persimmon Rum Bread
(adapted from Putney Farm)

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 extra large or large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup spiced dark rum
1 cup persimmon puree (i used 2 very ripe large fuyu persimmons)
1 cup pecans (i used the ones labeled "recipe ready")
1 cup or so dried fruit (i used a mix of chopped whole dates, golden raisins, and regular raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or line loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the flour mixture in a separate small bowl. Toss in the dried fruit in the reserved mixture, making sure to coat each piece well.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree, pecans and floured dried fruit (note: you want to add any leftover flour that the fruit was tossed in as well...waste not, want not!). Mix the batter just until combined (having little streaks of flour is okay...don't over mix).

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and then place the pan in the oven. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pan before serving.

sticky and sweet persimmons.

that picture might no look like much...but, boy, is it one big bowl of happiness! That, my friends, is a warm serving of sweet pudding. persimmon pudding, to be more precise. and smothered with an awesome buttery, caramelly, toffee sauce. mmmm......

it's that time of year when persimmons are in season and after my last attempt, i decided it was high time i tried my hand at using persimmon again in baking. i did some googling and found that persimmons aren't all that weird in american cooking. what really intrigued me was that in some areas, they prepared desserts similar to british dessert puddings like sticky toffee pudding. wait a minute...that didn't sound like a bad idea!

that got me looking for recipes and i finally decided on combining two recipes. i wanted the persimmon pudding to be an old-timey recipe that someone's grandma used to make since i only had fuyu available in my area. secondly, i wanted to make an easy toffee sauce that would really compliment the pudding. well, since the sauce was already made for a persimmon pudding, i decided to go ahead with it. and was i glad i did!! it's nice and buttery and almost too sweet...almost.

the pudding, on the other hand, was okay. i might try for a more "cakier" pudding as it took longer than the perscribed time to cook. it does get firmer as it sits but no where near "sponge-like". will definitely keep the toffee sauce recipe and hunt for another pudding to try. heck, i think i might try the actual pudding the came with the toffee to save me the time!

Treva’s Prize Winning Persimmon Pudding
(from Bloomer Living)

1 cup of persimmon pulp
1/4 tsp soda
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup cold milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray. Stir soda into the pulp and mix well. Add the egg and the sugar until combined. Mix together the flour with baking powder. Alternate a little flour with a little milk until all flour and milk is gone. Don't dump them in together or else you will get lumps. Stir in the melted butter and mix well. Pour into 9x9 pan and bake for 30 minutes or until edges pull away from the pan and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Sticky Toffee Sauce
(from A Cozy Kitchen)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a small bowl, mix together the vanilla bean caviar and brown sugar together. In a medium saucepan, set over medium low heat, add the vanilla brown sugar and butter. Cook until the butter has melted and the brown sugar begins to caramelize, about 2 to 3 minutes (deviated a little bit...no vanilla bean, only extract so i added the extract right at this point). When the brown sugar begins to bubble, add the heavy cream and stir. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. During this time the toffee sauce will thicken and reduce by a little bit. When the persimmon pudding comes out of the oven, pour the warm toffee sauce over the pudding and serve.

spice-a-licious persimmon cake.

ah, persimmons. i remember when i was younger, my parents took the kids to a persimmon farm and we were given some shears and a bucket and we got our own persimmons by the pound. i've alwyas loved this wintery fruit, it was a good substitute chicos, my favorite childhood fruit from the phillipines. so, i was excited to try out this persimmon cake i saw on a blog i was meandering through.

first step, i assembled my cast of characters for the play. i had all the ingredients including some over-ripe persimmons i got from my mom the other day. needless to say, i was excited to get started. :D

i decided to tweak the recipe a little and add some rum to the glaze. whoo-hoo for cooking with alcohol! it's probably cuz i'm such a light weight...i can't drink alcohol at all else i'll turn into a red tomato. damn my asian genes!! :( ps, i actually had to go through all six persimmons to get thin enough slices i was happy with.

next, i decided to put the ends and pieces in the blender (because i have no food processor), along with the rest of the wet ingredients. figured i'd put a puree in the cake mix to make it more persimmon-y.

after the blending part, i added the dry ingredients to the wet and poured that sucker on the syrup and persimmons on the cake pan. i got a little nervous about the outcome tho because the batter ended up being too much (hence the extra cupcakies on the side). And for good measure, i put it on a cookie sheet for any spillage. and boy, was i glad i did!

so after i did an allie-yoop, and topsy-turvied the cake, i was rewarded with a caramel top and a cake that was slowly deflating. i tasted the side cupcakes sortly after and it was a little moist, reminiscent of bread pudding. and spicy....lots of nutmeg and cloves spicy. i was a little worried about that part since i'm not too fond of overly clovey, nutmeggy stuff. After letting it cool down for a bit, i took a slice and tasted it.

-it was a tad too much clove

-because the persimmons burned a little during the cooking, it had a slight bitter aftertaste.

the ending result is more akin to a mexican bread pudding than a cake (must be the extra pulp in the batter). *sigh* if i do decide to try this again, i'd probably do without the pulp and reduce the clove and nutmeg by about half. or better yet, do without the spices and make the base from a regular upside-down cake. ah, well....onto the next experiment!

EDIT:
after tasting it an hour later, the consistency is still the same but the flavor is *much* better. definitely not one of those cakes you eat right out of the oven (well, at least for me anyway). and i've been thinking what the taste of baked, glazed persimmons reminds me of and now i got it: it taste like glazed sweet potatoes. i definitely prefer these fruit raw. :)

 
Upside-Down Persimmon Spice Cake
(from Vanilla Garlic)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 persimmons, peeled and sliced thinly
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices in a bowl and set aside.

2. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and sprinkle in 6 tablespoons of the sugar and cook, stirring until it comes to a boil. Pour into a 8x2-inch circular pan. Place the persimmon slices inside in a circular or sunburst pattern.

3. Using a stand mixer beat butter on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for 30 seconds each and being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom. Add the vanilla extract and mix in for 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low and add 1/2 the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated, Add the milk and mix in. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Pour batter over persimmons and level the top.

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until cake is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and run a kinfe around the sides. Carefully turn the cake out onto a plate. If some of the persimmon slices stick to the pan scrape them out and place them on the cake. Serve.