“Where there is no imagination there is no Horror.”
Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.
I’ve got my eye set on you, also got my mind set on you, you Bootiful flan!
When Renee @ Flamingo Musings asked last month if I celebrated Halloween, and if I’d like to join her and gang for the Great HallowTweet, a halloween Bloghop, I was quite unsure. Nothing like Halloween here, and actually we don’t get ‘scary stuff’ in stores that I could include in my posts. So I was compelled to say no, but the temptation drew me in. As days went by, ideas kept cropping up, with twitterverse on fire with hallow tweets galore, I was sitting on the edge. I eventually jumped on board the Great HallowTweet and was having fun in no time. I had a flashing thought from a brilliant Halloween post from Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella, & decided to top my flan with an eyeball made out of marzipan. Made some marzipan (from almond meal that I made for my mac escapades), and have to say that my foodie journey is becoming more and more exciting! This flan is made out of persimmons, my first adventure with this very temperamental and unpredictable fruit!
Persimmons, known to the ancient Greeks as “the fruit of the gods” are rightly royal fruit. Had seen this stunning fruit on blogs before but never met one in my life. The sight of the basket full at the local market brought me to a grinding halt. The man at the shop tried desperately to sell me bruised, soft fruit, insisting that the others would ‘catch my throat’, and I gave the poor soul a disdainful look. ”Trying to palm off yesterdays fruit to me, eh?“, so I lovingly sat & chose beautiful firm persimmons in gorgeous fall colours!
A few tweets later, discussions with the Greek God of Food,Petah @Kalofagas, and I was harshly enlightened. What a fruit the persimmon is. Astringent beyond belief if unripe, and luscious to eat when bruised & soft. There are 2 popular varieties, the hachiya and the fuyu, the latter being less astringent, and therefore an easier one to deal with.
I find the persimmon too fiddly for me, somewhat like French macarons. Strange comparison you might think, but both have the potential to bring you to your knees. I’ve been there, done that, with both the persimmon and with macarons, so I really know! Both have the foodie in me perplexed. Just when I think I’ve got a handle on either, they reduce me to tears! Lesson learnt – Fruits of the God & ‘he’ knows how to figure them out! Unfortunately, I found the fruit downright fussy for me. It took me one astringent bite to decide. ACK, it had ‘caught my throat’! Thereafter began my battle. Sat them in a brown paper bag for days. Are they ripe? Cut one … ugh! Finally got 2-3 ripe fruit & was forced to chuck 2-3 unripe ones. Hmmm… just when I was ready to throw the towel in, I saw a tweet from Lisa @ Lisa is Cooking. She made Persimmon Flan, and boy did it look good! WOW!! That was enough for me to get back into the game. I discussed ingredients with her on ever dependable Twitter, and with great inspiration from her, arrived at this beautiful flan. I wouldn’t say that it had a discernable persimmon taste (or maybe I know only of astringent tastes), but the flan was drop dead gorgeous, and very delicious. No eggy taste either. Beautifully behaved, it turned out easily from the mold. I made 3 4″ flans, and 8 tiny little ones in fluted tart pans.
Persimmon Flan
Inspired by advice from Lisa @ Lisa Is Cooking Persimmon puree 5-6 very ripe fuyu persimmons, calyx (cap)/stem removed 1 stick cinnamon 1 tsp cinnamon powder (optional; you can even use pumpkin pie spice) juice of 1 lime 1/2 cup soft brown sugar 1/4 cup apple juice
Method: Place all of the above in a heavy bottom saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes, a bit more if the fruit aren’t very very ripe. Cool & refrigerate overnight for the flavours to marry. Discard the cinnamon stalk (& seeds of the persimmon, if any. Mine were seedless), whiz in the blender. Yield 1cup persimmon puree.Caramel 1 cup granular sugar 1 tbsp water Method: Make a caramel out of 1 cup granular sugar. Heat 1 cup sugar in a heavy bottom pan,& stir gently only when it begins melting.Once it is golden brown & completely melted, remove form the fire & add 1 tbsp of water. BE CAREFUL at this point as it is dangerously hot, and will splutter. Allow them to bubble for a few seconds & come together. Quickly pour into your molds & twirl the molds around to coat bottom and sides (or only bottoms if you like).Custard: 1 cup persimmon puree 200ml low fat cream (25%) 4 small eggs 1/2 cup almond meal 1 tin/400ml condensed ilk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp cinnamon powder Method: Preheat oven to 170C Place all of the above in a big bowl & whisk for 1 minute to blend. Pour into prepared caramel lined molds, just below the tops. Place in a roasting tin, and pour enough hot water in the roasting tin to some about half way up the sides of the molds. Bake for 25-30minutes, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool, and then chill. (Do not try to turn out the custard warm/hot. It will fall apart)Run a knife around the edges, or give the mold a good shake, and turn it out into he serving plate. Pour any remaining caramel over the top. (Tastes mighty fine with a LITTLE drizzle of cream too)
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥
Be sure to take the Halloween hoppa which you will find on my sidebar & check out the rest of the gang on the Great HallowTweet! Thanks for taking me on Renee … BOOOOOO!! Don’t miss a post
