The dessert that saved my relationship with the "in-laws" 👀 nothing a little sweet treat can't do 🍊
Alice Sun (@alicecsun) shares a unique view into her life through the ways she uses food to nurture wellness, cross cultural divides, and bring people together, all through the medium of storytelling.
Alice Sun•
January 5, 2026
Every time during the holidays, the “in-laws” always end up taking it upon themselves to host everyone, and I really mean EVERYONE. The parties are always at least 20 people, who are immediate family, and they often times go up to 30 when we start factoring in significant others, friends, and guests. They’ll always say “it’s not a big deal”, “we’ve done it so many times so it’s easy”, but after 9 years of seeing this, I’m convinced that they just don’t know what it means to be spoiled!
So this Christmas dinner, even though they already took it upon themselves to make dinner, I wanted to treat them to an extra special French inspired dessert, making a persimmon tarte tatin.
Like any immigrant family, they like it when desserts aren’t too sweet, so I wanted this sweet treat to have a slight tanginess to get that balance just right. Plus since the fruits get slow roasted with cognac, it’s got that depth of flavor that pairs well with what they’ll be drinking with dinner!
So here’s what you need to make your own…
Start by pre-heating the oven to 275 °F and peeling the persimmons (8 whole) then cutting of the top leaves.
Put fruit into a 10 inch cast iron skillet along with the maple syrup (⅓ cup), cognac (¼ cup), red wine vinegar (2 tsp), and a pinch of salt.
Cover with foil and place in the oven for 45 mins or until fork tender.
Remove the persimmons (8 whole) from the skillet, then reduce the juices leftover in the skillet for 3-4 mins and reserve in a heat proof cup set to the side.
At this point, take your frozen puff pastry dough (1 sheet) out of the freezer to defrost, before moving on to the next steps.
Wash the skillet then make sure it’s bone dry before heating it on medium heat.
Add 2 Tbsp of sugar to the skillet and patiently wait for the sugar to start melting into caramel droplets, then stir quickly till sugar is melted and amber in color.
Keep repeating the process adding in 2 Tbsp of sugar at a time until all 1 cup of sugar has been melted.
Working quickly, remove skillet from the heat and stir in the butter (3 Tbsp), followed by the vanilla (½ tsp) and salt (½ tsp).
Set to the side and allow the caramel to cool and harden and preheat the oven to 400 °F.
In the mean time, roll out your thawed pastry dough to be an 11 in circle, using a dinner plate to help measure the size.
Using a knife, remove any excess pastry so you get a perfect circle, then carefully poke a few steam holes using a fork all over the dough.
Place the dough in the freezer to let it firm up, and meanwhile, arrange the persimmons on top of the caramel.
Add the chilled dough on top, tucking the edges into the pan then pop it into the oven.
Let it bake at 400 °F for 15 mins.
Then lower to 350 °F and cook for another 40 mins or until the pastry dough is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 mins.
To serve, wear an oven mitt, place a large plate over the top of the skillet, then position yourself over a sink before quickly flipping.
Be aware some of the caramel sauce could spill out and will be HOT.
Carefully remove the skillet to reveal the tarte tatin.
Glaze the fruit with some of that reduced glaze from roasting the fruits earlier, then slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Subscribe to get my new recipes delivered to your inbox
Sign in to comment
