An easy fall galette full of sugar and spice, festive sweet persimmons and spicy candied ginger nestle in a cardamom all-butter crust. Persimmon and ginger galette is a delicious and unique winter dessert. Why struggle through making a pie when you can make a galette with no effort at all!
Jump to RecipeCan’t decide on a filling for you galette? Why not make an adorable assortment of mini sweet and savory galettes instead!
Like all NY residents, my best friend and I had the misfortune to struggle through a crazy roommate. We had all sorts of nasty encounters with her.
One day I came home and found she’d moved all of my kitchen things into her room. When I asked her to give them back she burst into tears.
Another great winter dessert: port-poached pears with caramel stuffing!
The final straw? Once she “took out the trash” by carrying the bags out of our apartment and dumping them in the middle of the hallway so the floor above us had to step over our trash to go to work. Her logic? “Well only a third of it is mine, so I carried it a third of the way to garbage.”
What?! Obviously we had to evict her. Which went something like:
Liza: Hi, can we talk?
Her: No, this isn’t a good time.
Liza: Okay, when would be a good time?
Her: I don’t know. Maybe next week. *slams door in our face*
So we slid the eviction notice under her door and an hour later she came out to the living room and announced she “had decided to move out because it was best for her.” Some people…
But one of the happier memories I have of this girl was around Christmas. She came home tenderly cradling an orange/red fruit. She placed it gently on the table and said, “I found this weird tomato in my office fruit basket. It made me think of you two.”
Liza and I looked at the fruit. Looked at each other. Looked at her. Back at the fruit. It was a persimmon. Apparently this girl had never seen one before and decided to liberate it from the office fruit basket as a peace offering to us.
Now every time I buy persimmons I write “Weird tomato” on my shopping list.
I’ve always had a fondness for persimmons. When I was little, my mom used to make an amazing Christmas Persimmon pudding with hard sauce. I thought it was one of the most delicious things on the planet and always look forward to persimmon season.
But the only thing I’ve ever made with persimmons is some variation on persimmon pudding…either steamed or baked. But that’s it!
That had to change so I decided I’d try my hand at a new persimmon recipe for Vasiliy and I at Thanksgiving this year.
And I am so happy I did! This persimmon and ginger galette is every you want in this season. It’s warm and cozy with spicy ginger. And it’s chock full of sweet persimmons which are oh-so-Christmassy.
I used my spiced all-butter pie crust for this recipe, with some slight alterations. I only used about ¼ teaspoon of cardamom and just a pinch of ground ginger. Cardamom always lends a delicious holiday sparkle and the combination was out-of-this-world. (I could have just eaten the crust all day, raw, honestly.)
About Persimmons
Persimmons are a bright orange Asian fruit that can, to some people, look a bit like a strange tomato. They are fairly healthy with high dietary fiber and nutrients (vitamin C, Betulinic acid, iron, beta-carotene, etc.). Persimmons go from bright orange when young to very deep orange, nearly red when ripe. To ripen them quickly, place in a paper bag with a ripe banana or pear. Alternatively, you can freeze persimmons, which will breakdown their meat when you next defrost them. This makes them easier to cook with, though it doesn’t actually ripen them.
What does a persimmon taste like? Sweet, honey-like, delicate flavor. But you should note, persimmons are one of those fruits that are high in tannins. This means they can have a bitter or chalky mouthfeel.
There are two main types of persimmons available in the U.S.: fuyu and hachiya.
Fuyu persimmons are squat and have the consistency of an apple. (You can actually eat them whole.) They have fewer tannins than hachiya, so you can eat them younger. Although when very soft, orange, and ripe they are also very delicious and sweet.
Hachiya persimmons are oblong persimmons, probably the most common of the two. If you’ve ever bitten into an unripe hachiya, you’ve experienced one of the worst fruit flavors imaginable. It’s chalky, dry, bitter, revolting. Hachiya persimmons must be enjoyed when fully ripe so the tannins reduce. This means very deep orange and very soft, like a water balloon. The consistency is rather like jelly. You can slice the top off and just spoon out the flesh to eat! These are the most common baking persimmon for foods like persimmon cake or persimmon pudding.
Which persimmons should I use?
I chose fuyu persimmons for the meat recipe since they can be sliced like an apple. (Ripe hachiya will fall apart if you try to slice it.) They have a very sweet, crisp, honey-like flavor. But fuyu have less moisture than apples, so they tend to dry out when cooked.
Which means you need to add a little extra moisture. I chose to keep with the persimmon flavor and scooped out the meat of one extremely ripe hachiya persimmon for texture!
About Galettes
Why make a galette? Why not just make a pie?
First, galettes are easier! No double crust. No special designing. You don’t even need a pie plate. All you have to do is roll out your crust into something resembling a circle. Then fill the center of your pie crust with whatever fruit you have chosen, leaving a 1 inch rim of crust on all sides.
Then fold your pie crust rim and crimp it so it lays over the edges of your fruit in a circle. Do this one section at a time, starting with the part closest to you. Rotate to your right lifting some of the pie crust over and adjusting as you go until you’ve finished folding all the crust. (You’ll still be able to see the filling in the center.) Brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with some sugar, pop it in the oven and you’re all set!
Galettes are also much more rustic and relaxed than a full pie. Its edges are rough, the fruit is obviously visible. The circle isn’t perfect. They are meant to be a little casual. Silly as it may sound, a galette can set a more country-vibe and rustic tone to your meal. I prefer to make galettes when I want an impressive yet effortlessly casual dessert. (No one has to know how easy it is!)
You can also make a savory galette, like this spring time version with mushrooms and leeks.
How do I keep my Galette crust from getting soggy?
Unlike most custard pies, you can’t blind bake a galette crust.
Instead, try coating your crust with an egg wash, melted chocolate, some thinned out jam, or (in this recipe) smeared persimmon meat. Do this before arranging your fruit filling so you have a protective layer between crust and fruit.
How to serve Persimmon and Ginger Galette
Galettes are easy to cut, simply slice a piece like you would a normal pie.
We served ours with Honeycomb ice cream from Van Leeuwan. Honeycomb is actually a sweet cream ice cream with a “honeycomb” of caramel throughout. It tastes like toasted marshmallows or rich caramel candies in cream. Delicious and it went so well with persimmons!
You can also serve this persimmon and ginger galette for breakfast. It would be perfect for New Year’s Day or Christmas morning! (Or serve this Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake for breakfast and save your galette for dessert.)
If you’re looking for a lighter Christmas or winter dessert, try this Cardamom Panna Cotta with honey broiled figs and port wine gelée. It’s so elegant and light and only takes 10 minutes to cook.
What wines pair with Persimmon and Ginger Galette?
Since this is a dessert, pairing a dessert wine is not out of the question!
Stick with whites so you don’t overpower the persimmon flavor:
- Gewürztraminer – sugar and spice, which will pair well with sharp ginger
- Riesling – sweet orchard notes will pair well with persimmons
An easy alternative to pie, this persimmon and ginger galette is full of festive Christmas flavor!
- 1 All-Butter Spiced Pie Crust
- 6 Fuyu Persimmons
- 1 Hachiya Persimmon
- 1/2 cup Candied Ginger Pieces
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar + more for sprinkling
- 1/4 tsp ground Ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground Cardamom
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp Flour
- 1 Egg beaten
- 1 tbsp Heavy Cream
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Preheat your oven to 400°F
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Take one half of your all-butter pie crust out of the fridge to rest and soften slightly!*
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Mix an egg wash by beating 1 egg and combing with 1 tbsp cream.
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Slice your fuyu persimmons into 1/4 inch thick slices (either wedges or rounds work).
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Scoop out half the flesh of your hachiya persimmon and combine it with your fuyu slices. Add in the sugar, ginger, cardamom, vanilla, and flour. Stir to combine.
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Roll out your dough to a circle 1/8 inch thick. Place on a baking sheet and brush with your egg wash. Scoop out the remaining hachiya persimmon flesh and brush onto the center of your dough in a circle.
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Arrange your candied ginger and persimmon slices in the center of your dough. Leave a 1/2-1 inch rim of dough around all sides of your fruit. Pour any remaining fruit/sugar/spice mixture over the top.
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Starting with the section closest to you, fold the dough rim up over the fruit and pleat any excess. Turn clockwise and do the same with the next section until all dough is folded over the fruit arrangement. (You will still see a large amount of fruit in the center!
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Brush the outer dough with your egg wash. sprinkling about 2 tbsp of sugar over the fruit and dough.
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Place into the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes.
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Remove from oven, let cool slightly before serving.
*I used my recipe for spiced all-butter pie crust. It makes two crusts, so save one for later or make two Galettes. I also changed up the spices in that recipe for this version. This one has only 1/2 tsp cardamom and 1/4 ginger so I wouldn’t overwhelm the fruit.
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