Persimmon Martini

It couldn’t have been better coordinated. Just after reading about persimmons in the latest issue of Edible Austin, we received persimmons in our CSA. A persimmon bundt cake with Italian cream cheese frosting was mentioned along with a salad with toasted walnuts and a persimmon flan. Everything sounded delicious and I’m hanging on to that bundt cake recipe, but I immediately zeroed in on the persimmon martini with fresh ginger, lemon, and a vanilla bean. The cocktail recipe was written with a juicer in mind, and I don’t own one. I pureed the persimmon flesh with lemon juice and grated ginger rather than juicing them. However you do it, the flavors will be fantastic. This cocktail is perfectly suited to the fall season, and I’m already thinking of other ways to combine these well-matched ingredients.

I started by scooping the very ripe flesh from four persimmons and picking out the seeds. That went into a food processor with lemon juice, freshly grated ginger, seeds scraped from half a vanilla bean, and a little honey. It was processed until smooth, and then it was stirred with ice and vodka in a cocktail pitcher until well chilled. The ice was strained as the martinis were poured into glasses. If you use a juicer, your fruit mixture will be thinner and should work fine in a cocktail shaker. I learned the hard way that my puree didn’t pour well through the shaker’s strainer. Hence, I transferred it to a pitcher. Once in glasses, the martinis were garnished with half a vanilla bean.

The vanilla warms up the persimmon flavor, and the ginger and lemon add zing. As soon as I tasted this concoction, I imagined it would make a delicious sorbet or maybe a pudding. Or, I might simmer it until it’s thickened and pour it over ice cream. Maybe I should mix a few more martinis and see what other ideas come to mind.