Persimmon Tart

If you can’t have your own garden the next best thing is knowing someone who does. Through the summer, we’ve been the lucky recipients of all kinds of interesting fruits and vegetables from the Chungs. Joanne will come into the house laden with the latest bounty, graciously explaining exactly what she is sharing. I’ve learned a lot about foods I never knew existed. Wax apples, for instance. Who knew such a strange looking fruit is part of the apple family? And then there’s the loofah (except I think it’s spelled differently) - I thought those were reserved for bathtub use but, thanks to Joanne, I now know they are born as big, green, kind of gently squashy gourds. I’m sure there are plenty of recipes on the internet but Joanne’s suggestion seemed the easiest: cut into pieces, salt them and then cook them in a bit of water.

Persimmons have also shown up regularly, thanks to my farmer friend. When Emily received a box of her own Chung crop in the mail, she promptly set about finding recipes that use those persimmons. Her internet research revealed that there are actually two different types of the fruit so recipes had to be reviewed to see if they would be suitable for the Fuyu persimmon we were gifted with.

Settling on a tart recipe, Emily cooked one up to perfection and then took it into her lab where it was promptly gobbled up. I’d been wavering between a persimmon bread or cookie but, based on Emily’s success, I decided to make the same tart recipe she graciously sent my way.

This was really easy to put together. Emily had written a word of caution about the butter falling off the tart pan and creating lots of smoke in the oven but I didn’t have that problem. I actually used the mandolin to cut my butter so it was in paper thin shavings and maybe that helped.

What does a persimmon taste like? Baked in the pie with seasoning and lots of butter it reminded me a cinnamon-y apple. In addition to the wonderful taste of the persimmons, this tart makes a pleasing autumn dessert because of the orangish color of the fruit after it’s been baked.

PS - Emily says it's no wonder I like the persimmon tart so much...it sounds a whole lot like Pearl Simmons, my much loved maternal grandmother.


Kaki no taruto (Persimmon tart)

Makes 6-8 servings
For dough:
1 stick (115 g) cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (155 g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For filling:
3 persimmons, peeled, seeded and sliced 1/8-inch thick
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 stick (55 g) cold butter, sliced thin

Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

Make dough: Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips until most of mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest lumps about pea-sized. Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water evenly over and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.

When you squeeze a small handful of the dough, it should hold together without crumbling. If it doesn't, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until incorporated (keep testing). Don't overwork the mixture or add too much water, or your dough will be tough.

Form dough: Divide the dough into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once across your work surface in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with a pastry scraper and form it into a disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

When you are ready to assemble the tart, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a 13-inch round and fit it into a 10-inch tart tin, trimming the excess. Arrange the persimmon slices decoratively on the pastry shell, overlapping them. Mix the nutmeg and ginger with the sugar and sprinkle on top of the fruit. Top with butter slices and bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the persimmon slices are lightly browned. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.