Persimmon Jam

This jello-curd-like jam could not be described better than sweet, rich and sexy.

With this jam, you will get that lovely, subtle flavors of ripe persimmons turned into a real treat that will bring your breakfast bowls and pancakes on to another level.

When I think better, I realize I have “a story” with almost every ingredient.

And the story with persimmons would go something like this… When I was a child, I use to run away from this fruit. When mom would bring it to the table and start eating it, obviously overripe, I was thinking she is really strange because *that* didn’t look like something people would eat (I am not joking!)

After all these years, I got my hands on persimmons again, and guess what – I loved them (I even made this Persimmon and Butternut Squash Mousse with them!)

But since these pretty fruits are still somewhat new to me, this season I continued to play with them and came up with this.

The fact that persimmons are so glutinous and silky by their nature, only helped me make this curd-jello-like jam, if I may even call it a “jam”. It is thick, it is a bit chewy and it can not be spread easily. But it is smooth and rich, and so flavorful.

Although it was hard to resist not to eat the whole thing straight from the jar , I am happy that I did because this treat made my breakfast better, spoon after spoon, day after day…like in these buckwheat pancakes…

and on top of this beetroot-berry smoothie…

But frankly speaking, you could eat it also straight from the jar – I bet you would enjoy every spoon of it!

PERSIMMON JAM {vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free}

This recipe first appeared on culinary postcards (author Iva Savić)

Prep time: 5 minutes >> Cook time: 5 minutes >> Total time: 10 min

makes 1 small jar (~200 ml)

Ingredients:

2 ripe persimmons*
juice from 1 clementine
40g xylitol**
1/2 vanilla bean***
1 tablespoon coconut oil (room temperature)
20g arowroot powder

Preparation:

Squezze out the persimmon pulp in a small pan.
Add clementine juice and sugar to it and set on low fire.
Stir them around, add coconut oil and cook it until sugar melts.
Add arrowroot powder, stirring it good in, and let simmer then cook on low for 2-3 minutes.
Pour hot jam in a glass jar and let cool before closing it air tight.
Keep it in the fridge for up to 7 days****

Notes

* we get only one sort of persimmons that are native to this geo area, and they have no special name, but based on their characteristics – being unpleasantly bitter when firm which is why we eat them only when they are ripe enough – I would say they are close to Hachiyas persimmon. Therefore, I recommend getting that type of persimmon for this recipe

**I used xylitol as the best I could find refined sugar-free alternative. I find that bitterness of coconut sugar would ruin the subtle sweet taste of persimmons and dark mouscovado sugar would affect their pretty colour, which I did not want to. Therefore, and to avoid using regular white sugar, I used xylitol, but I believe you could easily substitute it with a regular sugar.

***replace it with a tsp of vanilla sugar or 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

****Maybe it could last longer, but I did not try.