Yes! Persimmons & pumpkin, an orange colored dream team together at last in this pie. If you live in persimmon territory you know ‘tis the season. Here in Northern California, farmers markets are overflowing with these beautiful orange fruits. And if you, or someone you know, has a persimmon tree you are probably overloaded with them right now. Here is one small recipe to help put a delicious dent in all that fruit.
Or perhaps you live in a land without persimmons? You’ve seen them in the store and are persimmon curious, not knowing what exactly to do with these funny fruit. Here is a quick primer with some very important information.
OK, this is very important: there are two different types of persimmons and boy are they different.
1/ Fuyu: these are round, squat and you eat them crunchy. They don’t get soft. These persimmons are good as they are – think of them as you would raw apples. Fantastic in preparations where you want an intact crunchy texture. Use them for salads, chutneys, cheese plates. Or just pick one up and eat is just like that.
2/ Hachiya: these are elongated, like oversized orange plum tomatoes. You might get them when they are still hard. DO NOT attempt to eat these puppies until they are suuuuppppper squishy and feel like a cross between an overripe tomato & a water balloon about to burst. Until that stage, they are extremely tannic and very unpleasant to eat. So, if you get your hachiyas when they are still firm, just put them on the counter and in a few days they will be ripe and ready. Once they are ripe, simply scoop or smooch out the pulp which is great in lots of desserts.
For this recipe, you can use either persimmon. The persimmons give this pie an extra vibrant orange color, and a lighter texture vs pumpkin-only pie.
Crust Ingredients:
⅓ cup sugar
1-½ cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons of butter, melted
Filling Ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin
7 ounces persimmon puree (either persimmon pureed in the food processor)
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup mascarpone cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice mix (a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove)
4 large eggs
Topping ingredients:
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup mascarpone cheese
UPowdered sugar to taste
Splash of bourbon, aged rum or armagnac
Method:
- Make the crust: Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C
- In a bowl, mix together all the crust ingredients with your hands. Make sure all the graham cracker crumbs are well coated with melted butter. The mixture should want to stick together when pressed. If you find your mixture too dry, you can add some more melted butter.
- Butter the bottom and sides of a glass pie pan. Add the graham cracker mixture and use your hands to pat the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Make sure to tamp it will with your hands so that it forms a cohesive crust. Take care that the top is neat, without random crumbs.
- Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the crust is set and just beginning to brown.
- Fill & bake: Place all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Pour the filling into the pie pan.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes or until it is just set, but still jiggles in the center when moved.
- Allow to cool at room temperature if you are eating it in a few hours. Otherwise store your pie in the fridge. Bring to room temp for serving.
- When ready to serve, beat the cream, mascarpone, liquor of choice until soft peaks, then add powdered sugar to taste. Beat until fully whipped. (Do not over beat or you will get butter!)