Warm spices plus tart cranberries and sweet persimmons make an unusual Thanksgiving treat.
Last week I was lucky enough to snag not one, but two kinds of persimmons at the grocery store. This is the first year I can remember seeing persimmons locally, although these specific fruits were grown in California.
I happily snatched up three of each kind; squat Fuyu that look similar to tomatoes, and tear drop Hachiya. I combined the Fuyus with cranberries to make this non-traditional cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.
Apparently the Hachiyas need to be very ripe, and are then used like pumpkin puree. I am still waiting for mine to get that ripe. When they do I have a roll-out cookie experiment in mind.
Persimmons have a sweet taste that has been compared to apricots, although I think the flavor is more like an apple, without the crispiness.
This particular recipes is rather tart. If you prefer a sweeter cranberry sauce, feel free to add more sugar.
- 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (about 3½ cups)
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 3 Fuyu persimmons, peeled and diced
- ½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
- Combine cranberries, water, sugar, and spices in a small saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add diced persimmon to pan. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
- Stir in pecans.
- Remove from heat. Serve cold or warm.
- Sauce may be frozen and thawed before serving.
Cranberry sauce makes a nice addition to the table all winter long, not just over the holidays. Freeze some of this sauce to serve later with chicken, pork or bean dishes.
This is delicious. Minor changes: there were no 12 ounce bags of cranberries this year–only 8 ounce. So I scaled down as follows:
8 ounces cranberries, 3 1/2 tablespoons water, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and 2 persimmons. I left the spices more or less as is, except that I eliminated cinnamon and added a 1/4 tsp. of cardamom. I did not use pecans. I made it a day ahead, so while I’ve tasted it no one else has. But I love the balance of sweet and tart.
Agatha, love the cardamom idea. Sounds like you are a creative cook!
Renee