Bakin' with Santa

I have decided that my cooking adventure does not always have to be a solo expedition. It is a cliché, but food really does bring people together. Not only that, you can pick up some great tips and learn some new tricks while you are at it. And whenever you cook that particular recipe in the future, you will always think of the person you originally cooked it with and remember what a great time you had that day.

For this recipe, I was cooking with the Gamer's Dad. I am going to call him Santa for this post as he is a happy and jolly man who incidentally looks just like Santa Claus! Now Santa is a fantastic cook and loves to experiment with recipes (you should taste his gnocchi). When the Gamer and I go over to his parents house for dinner, there is always a beautiful meal and Santa and I always have fantastic foodie conversations about the latest kitchen gadget, the recipes in this week's 'Good Living' or what fantastic ingredient is in season right now.. which brings me to Persimmons. I had never really given Persimmons much of a thought until I saw them arranged quite beautifully on a platter there one evening.  Santa loves Persimmons, and he likes them best when they are overripe and "like jelly". I was quietly amused one evening when he offered some to the rest of us and after everyone shuddered and politely refused, he shrugged, sat and enjoyed it with a teaspoon, in solitary persimmon bliss, happy as a clam.

I actually took one away with me and tried it later (yeah, I was following the crowd not having one then and there). Eating the persimmon at this stage means that the texture is kind of, well, jellied and wobbly and I can understand that it could give one the heebie-jeebies* but if you look past this you will find that the taste is much sweeter and less lip puckeringly astringent than when it is less ripe. It also makes it wonderfully easy to puree and then to add said puree into a wintery persimmon cheesecake! 

*The Fuyu (a variety of persimmon) is non-astringent and can be enjoyed much earlier in the ripening process, jelly free.

Santa found this recipe here and suggested that we give it a go, so we did and it was not only a fun day but turned out to be a very tasty cheesecake. I loved the base with the brown sugar and chopped walnuts and the actual cheese cake mix was surprisingly light and fluffy for a baked cheesecake.

Santa used a coffee tamper to press the base into the tin. It worked a treat!

(UPDATE) Fun Fact: Magpies just love Persimmon Cheesecake!

Persimmon Cheesecake

(recipe directly followed  from here at Allrecipes.com )

• Base:
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• Filling:
• 2 cups pureed persimmons
• 3 250g packs of cream cheese, softened - we used Light Philadelphia
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream - we used light sour cream
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven and grease a 9-inch spring form pan
2. In a food processor, chop the walnuts to a fine crumb
3. Mix the brown sugar, melted butter and walnuts together in a bowl and then press into the base of the pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
5. Combine the pureed persimmons, cream cheese, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup sour cream, cinnamon, and ginger in a food processor. Blend in processor until smooth, and make sure you stop every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, and process until fully mixed. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until mostly set, it should be wobbly in the centre...kind of like a piece of overripe persimmon (!) for 60 to 75 minutes.
7. While the cheesecake is baking, whisk together the 1 1/4 sour cream, 3 tablespoons of white sugar and vanilla extract. Spread evenly over the cheesecake while still hot and return to oven another 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the top and loosely cover with foil. Refrigerate over night. Serve.