If you’ve never had a black sapote before, you may not know what to expect. Because they are delicate, they often come green and can take about a week to ripen. A sapote can feel hard one day, and be soft and ready to use the next; therefore it should be carefully watched.
You know it is ready when its skin turns dull olive green and breaks in small grainy pieces, and the flesh turns black and soft: In other words, when it looks like it’s ready to be thrown out, that’s when you slice the sapote open and eat it with a spoon.
Sometimes called the “chocolate pudding” fruit, the taste and flavor of black sapote is indeed uncannily like chocolate pudding. But make no mistake, this is fruit. Sapote tastes like fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding—delicious and just a little strange.
Sapotes are related to persimmons, and contain a fair amount of vitamin A. They are a good source of vitamin C, have a relatively high amount of potassium, and small amounts of other vitamins and minerals.
To prepare a black sapote, cut it into 4 to 6 wedges cutting from blossom end towards stem. With spoon, gently scoop out pulp, discarding seeds. The pulp tends to break up easily, and can be used immediately or frozen.
Sapote makes a great substitute for bananas in your favorite smoothie or banana bread recipe. Here is a refreshing chocolate-orange treat to help you enjoy this unusual fruit.
Related:
Dulce de Sapote Negro
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 ripe black sapotes, sapotes must be very soft; an unripe sapote is inedible
- ¼ to ½ cup raw honey, to taste
- 1 tsp. organic orange peel, grated
- 2 cups fresh orange juice
- 2 Tbsps. organic orange peel, finely shredded
Instructions
- Remove stems from sapotes.
- Pull off green skin with your fingers. You now have a dark brown, thick pulp.
- Inside are hidden almond-shaped seeds. Remove these with your fingers.
- In food processor or blender, combine sapote pulp, honey, orange rind, and orange juice. Pulse until mixed well.
- Chill. Mixture should be shiny black-brown.
- Garnish with a few fine shreds of orange rind on each serving.
- Dulce de Sapote Negro can also be frozen as a sherbet.
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