Persimmon pie is smooth and creamy, lightly spiced with flavor notes of honey, pumpkin, and apricot. Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream for the perfect bite!
Yield: 1 9-inch pie (about 12 servings)
Cook Time: 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Total Time: 2 hourshours
Ingredients
For Crust:
1½cups/ 187gall-purpose flour
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
⅛teaspoonbaking powder
½cup/ 113g(1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1teaspoonapple cider vinegar
3 to 5tablespoonsice water, as needed
For Pie Filling:
8large ripe Fuyu* persimmons, enough to make 2 cups of puree
Place the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. The colder the better for all the ingredients and tools.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cold butter a few cubes at a time, until the butter breaks up into pea-sized crumbs (any larger chunks you can break up with your fingers).
Add the apple cider vinegar and one tablespoon of ice water at a time, mixing on low speed until it just barely comes together into a crumbly dough (you should be able to pinch a piece of dough and have it hold together). Knead the dough once or twice to form a ball, then form into a disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Let the crust come to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes (it should be still cool but pliable).
Roll out crust into a round large enough to fit into your pie pan with a 1-inch overhang. Gently transfer rolled out crust to pie pan, easing it into the pan so as not to stretch the dough. Trim any uneven edges so there is a nice even overhang around the entire pie.
Fold the overhang under itself, then crimp as desired. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or freeze for 15.
Line pie with a piece of crumpled parchment paper or foil, lightly draping over the crimped edges. Fill with granulated sugar to weight it down (pie weights work too, also dried rice or beans).
Bake crust for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and carefully lift out parchment with weights. Pop it back in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes until the bottom dries out a bit and the edges just barely start to brown. Place on a wire rack and let cool while you prepare the filling.
For the Filling:
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Peel and core persimmons (or, if very ripe, scoop out the jelly-like flesh with a spoon). Discard seeds, if any, then place in a blender and pulse until smooth.
Transfer to a saucepan set over medium heat, bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring consistently (be careful as it will bubble and sputter), until puree has reduced to 1½ cups, about 15 minutes. This step can be done ahead of time, refrigerate reduced puree in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to a month.
Add evaporated milk, brown sugar, flour, salt and spices. Return to heat and warm until it just starts to bubble.
Whisk eggs and egg yolk in a bowl until smooth and uniform. Ladle in hot persimmon mixture, 1/4 cup or so at a time, whisking constantly to incorporate. Continue to ladle in hot persimmon mixture until about half has been incorporated and egg mixture is hot to the touch. Return entire mixture to saucepan and whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla, then pour into prepared crust.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until edges are set and center is just slightly jiggly (if you want to be precise about it, the interior temperature will read 180-190 degrees F when the pie is done.
Remove from heat and let cool completely on a wire rack, then lightly cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to a day ahead of time (technically it can be made further ahead of time but the crust may get a little soft after a day or two).
Notes
*For this recipe I recommend using Fuyu persimmons. While fully-ripe Hachiyas should work in theory, they can sometimes have unexpected (and undesirable) results when cooked. I'm still trying to figure out a workaround for this variety, and will certainly update the recipe here when/if I do so.