Editor: One of the great pleasures of coming together with our California Rare Fruit Growers community is the food. We grow fruit for multiple reasons: for the horticultural challenges and explorations, to nourish our families and communities, but also for delicious flavors. A highlight of our Monterey Bay CRFG meetings is the creative recipes the people bring to share. Here Stephanie graciously shares the recipe for her wonderful Persimmon-Citrus-Apple Butter (more complex in flavor than your average apple butter), which I found paired beautifully with Peter’s fresh made goat cheese and my own rustic sourdough, at our last meeting’s delicious potluck spread. –Andy Moskowitz
Persimmon-Citrus-Apple Butter (or Sauce) – Low or No Sugar
by Stephanie Hudson
Notes:
I’ve doubled and quadrupled the recipe for canning without any problems.
I’ve used both Rhode Island Greenings and Lady Williams apples. The former resulted in a slightly better flavor, but the latter had a lovely faint pink tinge to the color from the red peels.
I tried adding a grated carrot to the apples to get a really cheerful orange color. While the color was great, my whole family voted it not quite as good as the version without the carrot (maybe a little too reminiscent of baby food?). Next year I’ll try including a red-fleshed apple.
Both Cara Cara and regular navel oranges were delicious. Next time my calamondin has a bumper crop I’m going to try substituting that for some or all of the citrus.
- 4 medium apples, chopped (don’t peel if you have a blender or food processor, peel if you don’t)
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 1/2 a lemon, zested
- 1 Tbsp orange juice concentrate (optional, it punches up the orange flavor)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg or cardamom
- Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until apples are falling apart, about 20-30 minutes.
- 1 cup Hachiya persimmon pulp (or add an extra apple to above step if it’s not persimmon season)
1/2 a lemon, juiced - Add to applesauce and blend until smooth (an immersion blender makes this really easy).
For sauce, stop here. Makes 3 cups.
For butter, keep cooking:
- 1/4 cup sugar per cup of puree, or just use 3/4 cup total to be close enough (sugar is optional – without, the butter is yummy, but with, the flavors just sing)
- Stir in. Return to heat and simmer uncovered until thick, another 20 to 40 minutes. You’ll need to stir constantly to keep the splattering down. Makes 3 cups.
Join the Monterey Bay CRFG to be a part of the fun! Contact us if you have a locally-grown fruit-based recipe you’d like to publish for the community. Some more scenes from this meeting:
