Plentiful Persimmons

In my area here in So.Cal., persimmons abound this time of year.  I tried them a couple of years ago and I wasn't a huge fan.  They are very sweet, but don't have a particularly distinctive flavor to me, so I figured they weren't really worth my time.  That was until a good friend came over to my house with her canning supplies to make persimmon preserves from the persimmons in her own yard.  This gave me a chance to re-evaluate the uses of persimmons and I've since realizes that they are very versatile.  Because they aren't that distinctive in taste, they remind me of tofu in their quality of being able to be a blank slate that you write your own flavors on and then enjoy.  Since, our preserve canning session, I have been using persimmons in many different ways and seeing them with new eyes.  To combat one of my biggest persimmon dilemmas, which is that they go from just ripe to overly ripe at lightning speed, I included the mushy persimmons in a fruit leather/homemade fruit roll-up recipe that I found online.  They are absolutely perfect for the job because they are nice and sweet and ready to blend when they are that ripe. 
Here is the link to the page where I found this recipe.  Scroll down to the recipe for Strawberry Fruit Leather and click the link there for the full recipe.  http://goop.com/journal/make/196/small-bites

This fruit leather recipe is really very easy.  It looks like a smoothie when blended. My two tips are: (1) try and spread the mixture as evenly as possible on the parchment paper, and (2) check it regularly so as not to over-bake them.  My first try was so crispy that they turned out as fruit chips instead of fruit leathers.  This is such a great way to use fruit that is just a little bit too ripe to be easily be eaten by your kids.  My last batch included pears, persimmons, a guava, and mixed berries.  I like to put in at least a 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries in each batch because the girls like the taste it gives the fruit leathers. 


The fruit leather just stays on the parchment paper, you roll it up, and then either tie it or tape it in a roll.



The fruit leather after it comes out of the oven.