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What spices do you like with persimmon?

Smithy

By Smithy
in Pastry & Baking

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Smithy

Smithy

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I have a series of old recipes for Hachiya persimmons.  I'm getting ready to use a windfall of those persimmons in a few baking projects.  The suite of spices called for in the cake and cookie recipes is cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.  I like cinnamon.  I like nutmeg and allspice in small touches but they can be overdone for my taste.  Cloves I detest, and I'm going to leave them out.  That makes me wonder, however, whether I can take this recipe in another sweet direction altogether.  What other spice combination might I use with persimmons to make a nice baked product - sweet but not jarringly so?

 

Suggestions, anyone?

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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cakewalk

cakewalk

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Cardamom and/or saffron might be nice. And ginger. I'm interested in what you might bake. I can remember trying to bake loaf cakes with persimmon pulp a very long time ago. They were good, but there was no discernible persimmon flavor. It did add moisture and texture. I cannot remember what I did, it was too long ago and I was just winging it.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

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I like citrus (lemon or orange zest & juice) and ginger with persimmon. 

Persimmon, vanilla and coconut is also a nice combination - add a squeeze of lemon or lime for tartness if it's too sweet.  I used this in some popsicles but have seen it in cake recipes, too.

I think star anise would be lovely with persimmon.  Having made a coriander simple syrup recently, I'd like to try that flavor with persimmon for something a little unexpected.

 

I have no arguments with the cardamom crowd either :D

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Okanagancook

Okanagancook

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2 hours ago, Smithy said:

I have a series of old recipes for Hachiya persimmons.  I'm getting ready to use a windfall of those persimmons in a few baking projects.  The suite of spices called for in the cake and cookie recipes is cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.  I like cinnamon.  I like nutmeg and allspice in small touches but they can be overdone for my taste.  Cloves I detest, and I'm going to leave them out.  That makes me wonder, however, whether I can take this recipe in another sweet direction altogether.  What other spice combination might I use with persimmons to make a nice baked product - sweet but not jarringly so?

 

Suggestions, anyone?

It's a Chef's Life with Vivian Howard, 2017 season has an episode on persimmons.  You can see it on line.  

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dcarch

dcarch

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Persimmon as a fruit is not a very strong tasting fruit.  unlike apples, bananas, strawberries, oranges, mangoes, pineapples etc., any spice can easily mask it's taste.

I would not use any strong flavored spice, and certainly  very sparingly used if you must.

 

I do like to buy dehydrated persimmons from an Asian store, chop them up and add to my persimmon recipes, kind of like raisins.

 

dcarch

 

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  • 1 month later...
Smithy

Smithy

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I want to thank everyone for the suggestions.  I ended up using cardamamom, coriander, ginger (including crystallized ginger in place of raisins), a touch of saffron and a pinch of Berbere seasoning.  My persimmon bread went over very well - but, in fairness to dcarch, I must admit that one person thought it was ginger bread and another knew it had fruit but wasn't sure what type! Maybe I could have worked out a way to intensify the persimmon flavor. I still liked it better than our family's classic persimmon bread, which is seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg (but not, as I'd previously thought, cloves). I think it's the nutmeg that put me off.

 

20180202_125358.jpg

 

I have more puree, frozen, with which to experiment.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Smithy

Smithy

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9 minutes ago, cakewalk said:

The Berbere seasoning is a very nice idea. I'm wondering if persimmon curd is a doable thing to serve alongside the cake. Or maybe just some sliced persimmons.  

 

I like the persimmon curd idea. I've been thinking that persimmon puree would be a nice cheesecake topping if I could make it stiff enough (persimmon and sour cream, perhaps?) Persimmon curd would have a better texture.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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  • 4 weeks later...
paulraphael

paulraphael

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Cardamom is my first thought too.

 

Actually my second. At first I read the thread as "what spice do you like with permission?" which got me thinking of which forbidden spices I might like even more.

 

 

Also maybe cloves, chilis, cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg.

Edited by paulraphael (log)
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Notes from the underbelly

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