This delicious persimmon ginger sorbet is easy to make and both looks and tastes great, the zingy ginger complimenting the smooth, fragrant persimmon. Set any thoughts that a winter fruit and frozen treats don’t go together aside.
Persimmon, or sharon fruit as I knew them when I was younger, are something I first tried when I was fairly young in Andorra, of all places. I admit to being a bit confused by this thing that looked a little like an orange tomato. But any hesitating went out the window once I tried the delicious flesh. It has a wonderfully sweet but not too sweet, almost fragrant flavor. It comes back to me each time I see them in the shops and tempts me to buy them. Sadly they don’t appear all that often. So if I do get one, I generally just eat it. But last time I saw them, I decided to try a bit of a treat with them: this persimmon ginger sorbet.
For reasons I have yet to fully understand, ice cream and sorbets are eaten in large quantities at any time of the year in New England. We had some really nice sorbet not too long ago as a palette cleanser as part of a lovely meal out and it got me thinking about making my own. It wasn’t too long until I came up with this persimmon ginger sorbet. It makes a great seasonal treat or to break up some of the heavy meals that are often part of this time of year.
How it’s made
How it’s madeI admit that I haven’t actually made sorbet before but I have been thinking it was something I wanted to try. I can imagine there will be a few requests for ice cream in the years to come and I find a lot of the ones to buy far too sweet and often with some weird ingredients. Plus it’s just a nice thing to have in the freezer as a super-quick dessert or treat. Persimmon ginger sorbet is very easy to make as persimmons are already very soft and sweet. There’s also no stringyness or anything else you need to get rid of so it’s simply a case of peeling and pureeing them and mixing them with a sugar-syrup base. I did the manual version of stirring every hour but with an ice cream maker it is even easier, you just leave it to get on with things.
This persimmon ginger sorbet has tiny pieces of crystalized ginger in it as the flavor really compliments the persimmon. I tried a plain persimmon version as well which is also good but with ginger is much better. It adds a bolder taste, a nice little zing, to the fairly mellow persimmon. Together, they are delicious. It also looks great thanks to the beautiful orange of the persimmon.
Choosing persimmon
Choosing persimmonThe one warning I would give is to check which type of persimmon you have as there are two main varieties and they vary in how ripe they need to be to use them. One kind, the dumpy Fuyu, is fine when just a bit tender, like a ripe pear. However the other, Hachiya (as you see here) needs to be properly ripe. As in starting to bruise and you are worried you might burst the skin when you touch them ripe. The reason I flag it is under-ripe persimmon have a slightly odd thing where they leave a kind of fuzzy feeling on your tongue. It’s both weird in itself, but the fact that you can still taste that it should be delicious is torturous. Believe me, I know from experience.
Other than that, this persimmon ginger sorbet is a very easy and beautiful, tasty addition to any meal. With great flavor and colors, this is bound to impress any guests. They don’t need to know about the easy part, I promise not to tell. (Other than my friends at Fiesta Friday and Foodie Fridays and all other readers.)
A deliciously fragrant sorbet with a slight kick from the ginger, you'll want to find any excuse to make this.
- 2 cups persimmon 480ml, puree, approx 3-6 persimmon, depending on kind
- 1/3 cup water 80ml
- 1/3 cup sugar 80ml
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp crystalized ginger finely chopped, candied ginger
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Cut the persimmon in half and scoop out the flesh to leave the skin behind. Puree the flesh until smooth, only a minute or so.
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Put water, sugar and lemon juice in a small pan and warm over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to heat for a further minute then allow to cool slightly.
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Add the sugar syrup and finely chopped ginger to the persimmon puree and mix well. Pour into a container to put in the freezer or put in an ice cream maker.
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If using an ice cream maker, just follow the instructions. If doing manually, take the container out of the freezer approximately every hour for about 4 hours until it is pretty well frozen. Each time you take it out, stir the frozen outside pieces into the center and break up any icy lumps and return to the freezer. Leave overnight to freeze fully after the last time you stir.
Try these other tasty ways with persimmon:
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- Easy persimmon appetizer with minted mascarpone
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- Jerusalem artichoke and persimmon stuffing
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- winter beet salad with goats cheese dressing
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Judi Graber says
Your pictures make this sorbet look soooo good! I have not used Persimmon very often, but I obviously should. Do you know the names of the varieties? Like pears and apples… I agree your decision to add ginger must have made the flavor stand out, it usually does. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with making sorbet to all of us at FF#46 🙂
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks! Just had a quick check on varieties – fuyu is a bit smaller and rounder and OK when still firm, hachiya is a bit longer and is the kind that needs to be really ripe.
Claudia @Breakfast Drama Queen says
This sorbet looks so good! I’ve never tried a persimmon before – definitely something I must do!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, yes do hunt out persimmon, and try some on it’s own as well, it is really delicious.
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake says
I discovered persimmon fairly recently and I baked it in a galette with pear and almond, which was great. But now I need to get my hands on some more to try this because it sounds delicious, I love the addition of ginger. Yum!
Caroline's Cooking says
Ooh, that galette sounds great. It’s a great fruit and ginger does indeed go really well with it.
Chitra Jagadish says
looks delish…
Julie @ HostessAtHeart says
I don’t think I’ve ever eaten persimmon. Your sorbet is so pretty. I make ice cream, but haven’t made sorbet. I will be though.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, Julie, both the fruit and the sorbet are delicious. Hope you manage to try!
skd says
What a beautiful combination of flavours. sounds delicious 🙂
Kathryn Pfeffer says
Such an incredible idea for persimmons! What amazing flavors!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it’s such a delicious combination and so refreshing.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I’ve never had persimmon in anything but a fruit salad so I’m really intrigued by this. I love ginger so I think this would be a great palate cleanser for Christmas!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it would be perfect as a palate cleanser, it’s such a great gentle flavor.
Alisa Infanti says
I love sorbets when they are served between courses as a palate cleaner. They are always so refreshing and I love the flavour combination here. Sounds amazing and perfect for Thanksgiving!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, I agree they can make such a great palate cleanser, plus also a nice alternative to ice cream. The flavors here are so tasty.
Beth Neels says
This sounds like a glorious flavor combination! I don’t see persimmons often, but the next time I do, I will definitely pick some up because I am dying to try this!
Caroline's Cooking says
Do keep an eye out, they have definitely become more popular around here so I’m looking forward to getting some more and making this again myself!
Jeannette says
This sounds really refreshing. I am looking for different food items to make with my daughter in homeschool. I stumbled upon this and it looks amazing. I actually never heard of persimmon, so thank you so much for showing a picture of them!
Caroline's Cooking says
YOu’re welcome, hope you’ll give it a try! It’s pretty easy and tasty too.