Can you freeze Persimmons?

I discover that the answer to ‘can you freeze persimmons?’ is ‘Yes’ and share the Persimmon Clafoutis recipe that I made with them.

I had a good crop of persimmons on my tree last year but with unfortunate timing I was heading off on my trip to China just as they were ripening. I shared bags of them with my neighbours but suddenly thought ‘I wonder whether you can freeze persimmons?’ You can freeze many fruit whole, so on the day I left I put some whole in a bag in the freezer.

Then I had the dilemma of working out what to do with frozen persimmons when I got home. Stewed fruit or a fruit crumble are obvious candidates but I felt they deserved something more, but wasn’t sure quite how they would survive freezing. I eventually decided to try a Persimmon Clafoutis and can report that it worked out very well. The texture of the thawed persimmon looked a bit jellied – similar to when they are over-ripe, but when cooked the texture is similar to tinned peaches.

Clafoutis is a baked French dessert of fruit, arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. It is traditionally made with cherries, but it would be good with other fruit such as peaches, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears and berryfruit as well. Using tinned or frozen fruit is fine.

Persimmon Clafoutis Recipe

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
4 large persimmons, peeled and cut into wedges

Batter
60g sugar
4 eggs
Pinch salt
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
500ml milk
3 tbsp cognac
1 tbsp icing sugar, to dust

Heat the oven to 190C. Butter a large flan dish and sprinkle the surface with sugar so that it is evenly coated. Arrange the persimmon wedges on top in an even pattern.

To make the batter, put the eggs and sugar into a bowl and whisk for 2 minutes until light and slightly frothy. Stir in the flour and salt and blend very lightly until smooth. Add the vanilla and milk, stirring lightly. Pour the batter over the persimmons.

Bake immediately for about 50 minutes or until the pudding is browned and the centre feels like it is just set.

Let the pudding cool a little, then sprinkle with cognac and a light dusting of icing sugar. Serve warm with yoghurt or whipped cream.

This year I’m hoping to be able to enjoy my persimmons as they ripen but now I now that I have the option of freezing them as well.