#FlanFridays: Persimmon Fruit

(fresh out of the mold)

This is coming a bit late today because I’m still fighting a cold and flu. It’s causing me to move quite slow, an usual pace for me. Truthfully, I had a mishap with this flan. I’m not even going to lie!

It all started as a very exciting and ambitious task this morning. I’ve gotten every one in my family wondering every Friday morning what my flavor will be. I normally choose the morning of, usually finding inspiration from my weeks’ work or places I’ve traveled to. But this morning, my mom spoke and made a timely suggestion.

Mami is passionate about everything she does, including food. When she finds something she likes, she sticks to it and tries to put everyone of us on it, too. Case in point: Persimmons. She started eating this juicy fruit about 8 years ago and has become a mad woman. She buys them in bulk and lest anyone ask, she will devour them within 3 days–that would be a box of 8 or 9.

So, me, not being a huge fan of the orang-y fruit, gave her a sigh and gave in. I’d try it for the sake of doing a new flavor and to put a smile on her face.

It helps that the weather is quickly dropping and all things warm and fuzzy have a place in the house.

I went to work.

{Enter the mishap. This fruit retains a lot of natural water. It’s not very intense in fiber like pineapple or even mango. What does that mean? As the flan cooks, the water from the fruit releases into the custard, causing it to be to highly liquified and canceling out the egg and milk ratio. Well, almost canceling it out. The amount of water in the custard countered against the now diminished amount of eggs (which will ultimately bind the dessert) prohibits the custard from fully cooking. So, lesson quickly learned. Strain such a fruit when making flan.}

Persimmon is a “true” berry and takes a few days to ripen, usually through direct sunlight. If eaten before ripened, a certain variety of persimmon can be astringent as it bears high levels of soluble tannis. Hence, the high levels of tannis are diminished as the fruit ripens.

I kept this in mind when selection my two to use.  Sure didn’t want to create “after dinner” problems! *wink*

I started with mashing two ripened persimmons. Tasted it and found it a bit bland, so I added a dash of nutmeg. That did the job. It actually gave it an unexpected kick of heat.

I made my caramel which alone was seductive enough to lick. Take a look at this beauty!

I finished it up, let the pressure cooker hiss and then chilled it for a few hours.

My only regret is not having made two of these lovelies. This one was playing double duty: today’s feature and dinner at my brother’s house. I couldn’t break into it. So sorry, mis amigos.

But, I do report that it was ultra delicious! But are we surprised? We could taste the small and slightly visible bits of the fruit. It was smooth and truly an aromatic experience. I still can’t say that I’m a fan of the fruit as a stand alone, but together with the sweet and silky caramel, it’s a hit!

I’ll be making this one again tomorrow. Maybe I’ll cut that one up and come up and show a picture of a creamy slice!

Happy #FLANFRINDAYS!

Enjoy other #FlanFridays!

Upside Down Pineapple

Pumpkin Spice

“Eat & Tweet” A Flantastic Evening in D.C.

Banana Caramel

Cuban Espresso

Blueberry

Salted Caramel

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