Kaki crumble

Persimmons or kaki 柿 as they are known in Japan are popular autumn fruit often seen hanging in the trees of the Japanese countryside long after the leaves have fallen. Packed full of nutrients just one of these orange fruits contains over half your recommend daily amount of vitamin A critical for your immunity. Each fruit also contains 22% of your recommended daily amount of vitamin C amongst other vitamins and minerals.

The weather is turning cooler now so I decided  to make a warm dessert that was comforting and nothing says comforting dessert more than crumble. As I had quite a few kaki I decided to use some to try out a crumble recipe. It’s really simple to make and I think you could have this for tea or even for breakfast with some almond milk.

I chose an oven proof flan dish to make my crumble in.

Peel the skin off around 3-4 kaki with a knife and chop into large chunks. There are mainly two types of kaki Fuyuu are round and Hachiya are longer.

If your using Hachiya make sure they yield when you press them never eat these not ripe as they are high in astringency.
Put the chunks in your dish and sprinkle with some spices you could use what ever you have like cinnamon or nutmeg, I actually had this apple pie mixed spice so I decided to use this. Then I drizzled in about a tablespoon of maple syrup and a tablespoon of Yuzu juice. The Yuzu juice is optional. Give this a mix.

Now for your topping

To a bowl add one cup of flour of choice I used chestnut flour but something like oat flour would be good, add 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup hazelnut flour (basically finely ground almonds and hazelnuts) Also 1/2 cup of rolled oats.

Give it a mix and add to your flours 1/3 cup of melted coconut butter give this a good stir and make sure the coconut butter is mixed in to make your crumble a bit like bread crumbs. Tip this on top of your kaki. I like to sprinkle a little coconut palm sugar on top but again this is optional.

Bake in a moderate oven for around 30 mins until you can see the kaki bubbling and the topping is golden. Serve straight away warm with soy cream.