These sticky toffee puddings are the love child of two Chinese ingredients(Chinese almond powder and persimmons) and a classic British dessert. Whenever the fall/winter rolls around, persimmons are abundant. And trust me when I say this, but having Chinese/Taiwanese family friends, I find myself rolling in persimmons every fall because I always know someone that grows them fresh. While I love the taste of a ripe hachiya persimmon, I personally grew up on fuyu persimmons. The difference between the two is that hachiya are rounder in shape and cannot be eaten raw, while fuyu are flatter persimmon that can be eaten raw; an unripe fuyu persimmon tastes like a dryer apple or cantaloupe. With the unripe fuyu, I love shaving those and making these thin candied chip slices with them. And with the ripe, I like to peel those, and puree the pulp to be made into all kinds of fun components and desserts. In this case, I used the pulp in both the sticky toffee sponge and the toffee itself! And to contrast this kind of rich, sticky dessert, I made a Chinese almond tofu ice cream, made by combining almond powder(which tastes like almond extract but more floral and warming) with soy bean milk, and turning that into an ice cream. Oh, and fun fact, this dessert is 100% vegan AND gluten-free!

For this recipe, there are two components that will take a while to make: the ice cream, and the persimmon chips. The ice cream needs time to firm up, so give it ample time to freeze after you churn it. With the chips, they need a lot of time to dehydrate in the oven. If you own a dehydrator, use that instead, just so that you can free up your oven in general. I use unripe persimmons for the chips, but I do use ripened persimmon for both the sponge and the toffee. To help with that, I usually make the chips way ahead of time, so that the persimmon not used to make the chips can have time to ripen and then can be blended until a persimmon puree for the sponge and toffee. Ripened persimmon pulp tastes like candy, and it works wonders in both a batter or a sauce! I also used acorn flour in the cake batter, because acorn flour adds this rich, earthy flavor that is reminiscent of gingerbread. I love using acorn flour for sticky toffee puddings to begin with, but when you add in the molasse-y flavor of a ripe persimmon into the mix, it gets all the more delicious. For the toffee, it is made by caramelizing brown sugar, then adding in persimmon puree and making essentially a caramelized persimmon puree. The end result is this rich, toffee-like sauce that captures the best aspects of a ripe persimmon, but also a complex bitterness that also contrasts the more mild sweet flavors throughout the rest of the dessert. Hilariously, my sister dubbed this dessert one of her top 3 favorites I have ever made, and if that’s enough of a reason to pique your interest, I recommend trying out this recipe for yourself and see if it does live up to that kind of hype!

Makes 12 servings:
For the almond tofu ice cream:
16oz soy bean milk
1 cup granulated sugar
2oz Chinese almond powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tbsp cornstarch
1oz canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a blender, puree everything but the vanilla until the almond powder is fully blended into the liquid. Pour the contents of the blender into a pot and whisk on medium-high heat until the liquid comes up to a boil. Take the liquid off heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour the contents into an ice cream maker and churn until thickened. Transfer the ice cream into the freezer and allow the ice cream to firm up for at least 2 hours before attempting to serve.

For the persimmon chips:
1 unripe fuyu persimmon
2oz water
2oz granulated sugar
a pinch of salt

Slice the persimmon on the thinnest setting of a mandolin. In a pot, bring water, sugar, and salt to a simmer. Take the pot off heat and place the persimmon slices into the warm syrup, allowing them to sit in the liquid for 10 minutes. Place the slices onto a lightly oiled sheet of parchment. Bake at 200 degrees F for 2 hours. Store the chips in an airtight container.

For the persimmon-acorn sponge:
4oz acorn starch
4oz mochiko flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
4oz ripe persimmon pulp, pureed
4oz dark brown sugar
2oz canola oil
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
a pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, mix together everything until a batter is formed. Pour the batter into 12 3-inch mini bundt cake molds and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Transfer the cakes to the freeze and freeze solid(at least 2 hours) before attempting to unmold. Allow the cakes to come back up to room temperature before attempting to plate.

For the persimmon toffee:
4oz dark brown sugar
4oz ripe persimmon pulp, pureed
1 tsp miso paste
4oz soy bean milk

In a pan, heat up the dark brown sugar until it reaches 300 degrees F. Add to that the other ingredients and stir on low heat until everything is melted together. Keep the toffee sauce warm for plating.