Kaki or Japanese persimmon crumb bars

Ingredients:

Crust

2 cups/340 grams of flour

120 grams/3/4 cup of roughly ground hazelnuts

1 cup/200 grams of brown sugar

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 pinch chili flakes

1/3 cup/40 grams unsweetened dark cocoa powder

8 red pepper berries ground

2 twists fresh black pepper

1 cup/225 grams baking margarine or unsalted butter cut into cubes

½ cup/60 grams chopped almonds and pecans

Filling

3 peeled and diced ripe kakis

Fruit wedges and juices of 1 peeled blood orange

½ pureed papaya (optional – I had some in the freezer)

2 vanilla beans

2 TBSPs brown sugar

1 TBSP of Porto or Sherry

Topping:

1/3 of the leftover crust dough

½ cup/60 grams of oatmeal

1/3 cup/40 grams of unsweetened powdered cocoa

1/3 cup/25 grams chopped almonds and pecans

2 TBSPs margarine or soft unsalted butter

1 TBSP of Port or Sherry if crumble is too dry

Preparations:

For crust

Preheat the oven to 375 F / 170 C.

Butter and dust a 13 x 9 in./33 x 23 cm. metal baking pan with flour.

Pestle the cinnamon, red pepper berries, salt and fresh pepper in a mortar until finely ground and mixed.

Whisk flour, hazelnuts, sugar, spices and cocoa powder together in a large bowl

Add the butter/margarine – rub between your fingertips until the mixture sticks together in small clumps

Transfer 1/3 to a medium bowl for topping – set aside

Press remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of a buttered and floured pan

Prick the bottom several times with a fork and bake crust until golden brown and just firm about 15 minutes

Cool 5-10 minutes

For filling

Meanwhile, place all filling ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat – stirring occasionally so mixture doesn’t stick or burn – add more orange juice if needed but be careful that the filling doesn’t get too runny.

Turn down the heat and simmer covered for another 10 minutes. If the mixture is too thin then remove the pot top and turn up the temperature slightly so the mixture thickens – be careful don’t burn it.

Turn off the heat and let stand to cool for about 5 minutes.

Remove the vanilla beans and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Stir well to mix.

For topping

Take up the leftover crust dough and add the oats, cocoa powder, nuts and additional margarine or butter. Mix well – if it is not crumbly enough add 1 TBSP flour or if it is too dry, add 1 TBSP of Port/Sherry or orange juice or a bit more butter/margarine.

Putting it all together:

Spread the filling evenly over the crust in the pan and then cover with the topping.

Bake bars until topping is golden brown about 30 minutes – turn off and leave another it in the oven to settle another 10 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a rack the cut into bars and enjoy!