Fruit butters involve no actual dairy, and find themselves on the spreadable spectrum somewhere between jelly and jam.
For the first time in a long time, I will not be hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year. My brother and his wife kindly invited us to their new home and I responded “YES, PLEASE” before they had a chance to change their minds.
So here I am, a cook without a bird. There’s no turkey to brine, no potatoes to peel, no stuffing to stuff. But it’s Thanksgiving, and that means I’ve got to get my hands in some cranberries, and stat.
Thinking it might be nice to show up at Turkey day with a little gift for my hosts, I settled on this Cranberry Persimmon Butter. Fruit butters involve no actual dairy, and find themselves on the spreadable spectrum somewhere between jelly and jam. Slather it on some toast or pancakes, or serve with some crackers and a funky cheese – there are tons of possibilities for this sweet-tart spread. Me, I’m having some on a leftover turkey sandwich on Friday for lunch.
Did I mention the stunning red color just screams festive holiday season?
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Cranberry Persimmon Butter
2 12-ounce bags fresh cranberries
3 persimmons
2 cups apple cider
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
- Core and chop the persimmons, removing any large pits. Place the persimmons in a big pot.
- Rinse the cranberries and add them to the pot, along with the apple cider, ginger, salt, and brown sugar.
- Bring the ingredients to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often. Cook until the cranberries have popped, and the mixture has thickened substantially, about twenty or thirty minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Use extreme care, as splatters of scalding cranberry do not a Happy Thanksgiving make. Use an immersion blender to purée the cranberry and persimmon mixture.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. Scoop about a cup of the puréed cranberry mixture into the strainer. Use a spoon to push through as much liquid as possible, eventually discarding the solid bits. Repeat this process until all of the cranberry-persimmon mixture has been strained.
- Spoon the strained cranberry butter into clean glass jars and cover. Stored in the refrigerator, the cranberry butter will keep for one month.
This recipe will yield three cups of cranberry butter.
