![\"Persimmons\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_8139-768x576.jpg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/p>\nBright orange. Looks like a pumpkin. Does not taste like pumpkin. Tastes better than a pumpkin. It is a persimmon! (At least the Fuyu one.)<\/p>\n
“I never had a persimmon before,” a friend said when I served him a scoop of the five-spiced persimmon ice cream.<\/p>\n
I was awestruck. Never had a persimmon ever?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Growing up, my mom constantly purchased persimmons…almost in bulk at the weekly farmers markets. Bruised or dotted with black spots, they were on sale, but still as good as the perfectly shaped ones. She always bought the plentiful Fuyu persimmons with its squat bottom. (Differences between Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons<\/a>.) My picky younger self avoided many fruits and this was one of them. After dinner, my mom carefully peeled the persimmons, leaving finger-sized slivers on a napkin. She ate the peeled persimmon quickly, relishing the light sweet juice. Not quite floral, not quite peachy, but something of its own. Vanilla, maybe? A gentle nudge of sweet? A reminder that the fall and the winter had arrived.<\/p>\n Now older, I can imagine the crunch. I love my fruit crunchy and persimmons offer just that. Unlike my mom, when I find a sale of persimmons, I eat them with the skin on (like how I eat watermelon with seeds). Typically, I don’t run into much Hachiya persimmons, but Fuyu persimmons oh yes.<\/p>\n After finding a sale at a local market (and a friend offloading a bunch from his aunt’s tree) I couldn’t help but make an ice cream with it! <\/p>\n To heighten the flavor of persimmons (and a callback to my Asian childhood), I added Chinese five-spice powder. (Also inspired by the orange squash thing\u2014the pumpkin five-spice ice cream from Humphry Slocombe<\/a> and Jeni’s<\/a>). A few years ago, a friend introduced five-spice powder to me when he and his girlfriend moved out. In a paper bag, he had stuffed random spices from cinnamon, garlic powder, juniper berries, bay leaves…and Chinese five-spice.<\/p>\n “It makes everything so much better!” he said.<\/p>\n To my surprise, it enhanced flavors of chicken and soups since then. Perfect to bring in warm aromas of the five spices: anise, cloves, fennel seeds, ginger and cinnamon. Previously, I had only used the spices as separate elements, but having everything together (grounded up) was a quick addition to anything. Especially ice cream, of course. In this case, not a pumpkin pie, but perhaps like a spiced persimmon bread\/cookies\/pie\/jam.<\/p>\n 5-6 ripe Fuyu or Hachiya persimmons or 2 cups of persimmon puree Peel the persimmons. If the persimmons are ripe, the flesh should be easily scoopable out from the skins. If the persimmons are semi-ripe (and that is okay), quarter the persimmons and place into a food processor and blender. Puree the persimmons. There should be approximately 2 cups.<\/p>\n In a large bowl combine the persimmon puree, salt, honey and cream cheese.<\/p>\n In a small bowl, mix about 4 tablespoons of half and half with the cornstarch to make a smooth slurry.<\/p>\n In a saucepan, combine the remaining half and half, sugar, water, and Chinese five-spice powder. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the slurry. Return the saucepan to medium heat. Stir. Remove from heat when the mixture is thickens, about 1 minute.<\/p>\n Gradually mix in the hot cream mixture into the persimmon mixture until well combined.<\/p>\n Chill thoroughly at least 3 hours or overnight to enhance the flavors. Once chilled, churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer\u2019s instructions.<\/p>\n Serve with small wedges of fresh persimmon.<\/p>\n Written in January 2013<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bright orange. Looks like a pumpkin. Does not taste like pumpkin. Tastes better than a pumpkin. It is a persimmon! (At least the Fuyu one.) “I never had a persimmon before,” a friend said when I served him a scoop of the five-spiced persimmon ice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[3],"tags":[6],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_8140.jpg?fit=3648%2C2736&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8PMSr-4E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":263,"url":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/15\/spiced-apple-ice-cream-dulce-de-leche-swirl\/","url_meta":{"origin":288,"position":0},"title":"Spiced Apple Ice Cream with Dulce de Leche Swirl","date":"July 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(An ode to the country I am currently in: Argentina.) Apples. Red. Green. Fuji. Braeburn. Granny Smith. McIntosh. Apple pie. Apple sauce. Apple cider. That annoying remainder of the apple: the core that you bite round and round, the uncomfortable eyesore on the table withering into an unsightly brown. Yet.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipe"","img":{"alt_text":"Spiced Apple Ice Cream with Dulce de Leche Swirl","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/spicedapple.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":183,"url":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/28\/mango-passionfruit-ice-cream\/","url_meta":{"origin":288,"position":1},"title":"Mango Passionfruit Ice Cream","date":"June 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Written in October 2012 In the same farmers market trip for the peaches, a stand with smaller boxes than others caught my eye as I strolled. It looked as if the farmer looked at her garden and chose a select few. Sure, they were generic things like plums, apricots...but then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IMG_7726.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/04\/ghirardelli-chocolate-market-street-san-francisco\/","url_meta":{"origin":288,"position":2},"title":"Ghirardelli Chocolate Market Street San Francisco","date":"August 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"An experience. That's what Ghirardelli is to me. For many years, San Francisco was a city that barely held any allure for me. Growing up in the suburbs, the city was \"the place where my mom enjoyed shopping\". But somehow in college, I had discovered that the city offered more.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ice Cream Shop"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_3891.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":320,"url":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/31\/dulce-de-leche-granizado-ice-cream\/","url_meta":{"origin":288,"position":3},"title":"Dulce de Leche Granizado Ice Cream","date":"July 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Having studied Spanish for over 6 years, I knew what dulce de leche meant. Sweet. Sugar. Ice cream. The literal translation is sweet of milk. I love this kind of sweet. As an ice cream maker pointed out, \"nearly every ice cream shop has some kind of burnt, salted sugar\".\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/dulcedeleche.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45,"url":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/09\/i-love-eating-ice-cream-even-if-its-not-mine\/","url_meta":{"origin":288,"position":4},"title":"I love eating ice cream. \u00a0Even if it’s not mine.","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"To start, this is evidence of how much my love of ice cream reigned in my childhood. (I am the older one.) So starts the fascination of ice cream. Over the years, I always chose the ice cream (or sorbet if I was feeling too heavy) on the dessert menu.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kickstart3.jpg?fit=455%2C390&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52,"url":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/10\/basil-ice-cream\/","url_meta":{"origin":288,"position":5},"title":"Basil Ice Cream","date":"June 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Strawberry basil or basil?\" I asked my friend. \"My first ice cream flavor.\" \"Basil,\" he answered matter-of-factly. But it wasn't only that response that made me choose basil. Due to my childhood picky self, I never discovered basil until I was in my mid-twenties. It always came with Vietnamese pho.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/26860731711_670122b6f6_b-e1497054757848.jpg?fit=581%2C570&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions\/293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chinese](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icecreamtravelguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_8138-768x576.jpg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/p>\nRecipe<\/h3>\n
Ingredients<\/h4>\n
\n1\/4 teaspoon salt
\nspoonful of honey
\n2 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
\n2 1\/2 cup half and half
\n2 tablespoon cornstarch
\n2\/3 cup sugar
\n1\/8 cup water
\n1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder<\/p>\nMethod<\/h4>\n