In Season: Persimmons & gifts for you ~ 柿子脆捲佐英式奶油醬及焦糖醬

This is the first time I’m making dessert with persimmons, which I have been looking forward to since it has been featured in many of my recent purchases that I bought off this wonderful site – I can never get enough of these Japanese dessert books, most of which are accompanied by step-by-step pictures ;)

Since I started this blog, I’ve been more experimental with ingredient combos and lots of time I’m surprised by the end results - this is one such dessert! I took a recipe from Hidemi Sugino’s The Dessert Book – a book I highly recommend to those who are into intriguing & unique flavor combo recipes– and completely tweak it to what it is now. The original recipe is for persimmons tarte tatin (served w/ milk sherbet) but since I don’t have any readily available puff pastry in my fridge, I came up with this variation. What didn’t change is the way the persimmons were prepared, though I swapped the mixed spices of chai with cinnamon and nutmeg. I just love the divine smell of cinnamon =)



What I like best of this dessert is that there is nothing complicated in the preparation and it didn’t ask for ingredients too exotic that you can’t get from your local markets. Do keep in mind that when preparing the persimmons that it will ignite when alcohol is added so keep your distance! I served the sautéed, caramelized persimmon filled rolls with two sauces - crème anglaise & caramel sauce - to give it different flavors and contrast and so delish that I’m sure it will send you licking the plates like I did! Oh, the best thing about this dessert is that you can prepare almost all components a day ahead – always nice if you preparing it for a party or a get together.

Also, it is Thanksgiving in a few days and I would like to thank my readers for supporting my little blog – thank you, hug & kisses! As this being said, I do have something special for you. I am giving out a copy of Williams-Sonoma’s Holiday Entertainment book and 1 Kitchen Aid Cookie Press set. All you need to do is to send in a photo story that tells me what holiday means to you =) It can be a picture of an apple pie, a handmade scarf, a wreath and etc. You can either leave me a link in the comment box or send it to my email at LaAtelierVi [at] gmail [dot] com by end of day on December 3rd. Winners will be announced and accompany with their winning photo on December 7th! I can’t wait to hear from you :)

Caramelized Persimmon Rolls with Crème Anglaise & Caramel Sauce

2 Fuyu* persimmons, peeled, cored and cut into small wedges
1tbsp unsalted butter
2tbsps muscovado or brown sugar
1tbsp rum
1tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1tbsp lemon juice
8 7in squares egg roll wraps (available in Asian markets)

2 cups vegetable oil for deep fry
Egg white for sealing rolls

Crème Anglaise – makes 1 cup
150g milk
50g heavy cream
¼ vanilla pods
40g sugar
2 egg yolks

Caramel Sauce – makes ½ cup
100g granulated sugar
85g water

I thought you should know:
- The best persimmons are found at your local markets in Chinatown and Japantown.
- You can prepare everything ahead of time except the caramel sauce. It is best to do it just before serving.
- According to Chinese medicine, persimmon and crab should never be eaten together. Crabs are high in saturated fats so when eating with tannic acid packed persimmons, it will solidify in your intestines and could cause abdominal pains and vomiting.

*2 main varieties of persimmons:
- Hachiya is a beautiful fruit about the size of a medium peach, acorn-shaped with a shiny, bright orange skin and pale green papery calyx, or leafy cap. They are at their peak in late fall and early winter. As the fruit ripens, the skin dulls and takes on the texture of a water balloon. The astringent tannin evaporates and the fruit becomes sweeter with an apricot-like flavor, although some liken the flavor to plums, even pumpkins.
- Fuyu, is squatter and rounder than the Hachiya. The color is a yellow-orange and not as brilliant as the Hachiya. It almost looks like a mini pumpkin or perhaps a slightly flattened tomato, but unlike the Hachiya, the Fuyu can be consumed immediately. It is crisp, lightly sweet and crunchy, like a Fuji apple.

For the caramelized persimmons:
First, heat up a sauté pan over medium heat then add the butter. Once the butter completely melted, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the butter and cook until golden. Add the persimmons, swirling pan until all wedges are coated. Add the rum and let ignite (do not panic), swirl and cook for another minute; remove from heat. Add in the cinnamon and nutmeg, stir and toss to coat then sprinkle in the lemon juice and toss. Set aside until completely cooled.

Lay out one egg roll wrap with a corner pointed toward you (diamond shape). Place about 4 persimmons wedges on the wrap, fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the center and continue to roll. Brush a bit of the egg yolk on the final corner to help seal the egg roll.

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Stick a chopstick or skewer stick into the hot oil, when you see bubbles formed then it is ready for deep fry. Place rolls into heated oil, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on tempura or rice paper.

Halved the rolls diagonally and serve warm with crème anglaise and caramel sauce.



For the crème anglaise:
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow; set aside. Pour the milk into a saucepan. Using the tip of a small sharp knife; split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and add it to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture just to simmer then remove it from the heat. Whisk a little of the hot milk mixture at a time into the eggs, whisking constantly to combine. Then whisk in the heavy cream, remove the vanilla pod, and stir until completely combined.

Return the mixture to a clean saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. If a line remains after you have dragged your finger across the spoon, the custard is ready. Remove from heat, run it through a fine mesh, then place saucepan in a bath of icy water to cool. Continue to whisk until it has slightly cooled before serving or if serving the custard cold, allow it to cool completely before covering and chilling in the refrigerator.

For the caramel sauce:
Combine 15g water with the sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat; be careful not to stir but continuingly swirl the mixture to prevent from burning. Once the sugar completely dissolved and turned dark amber color syrup, turn the heat down to low. Slowly add the remaining water to the syrup, you will notice that the syrup become crystallized at this point (do not stir the syrup), continue to boil until crystals completely melted then remove from heat and leave to cool.

中文食譜晚點補上。這個星期四是美國的感恩節﹐為了感謝我blog的讀者們﹐我預備了禮物送你們哦﹗因本人財力有限﹐不能送每個人﹐只好來個好玩的攝影競賽囉﹗有興趣的朋友請在12/3完結前(美國)寄一張你拍的最能讓你聯想到節日氣氛的東西﹑人物﹑食物等等的照片到以下的郵箱LaAtelierVi[at]gmail[dot]com又或是在我blog的留言版寫下照片的link即可。賽果會在同一個星期的星期天公佈。 忘了說獎品是一本Williams-Sonoma系列名為Holiday Entertainment的書及KitchenAid Cookie Press Kit一個。還有不管你在世界的那一個角落都可以參加並不限於美國喔~