APPEARANCE Rating: 
Heart shaped green fruit with smooth scales, big enough that I wanted to use two hands to lift it (maybe 4-5 inches across), beige flesh with big black seeds.
AROMA Rating:
Extremely sweet and floral aroma reminiscent of vanilla, strawberries and banana. I can not stop bringing it up to my nose. Sooooo alluring. There should be perfume made of this. I am completely puzzled by the existence of pear perfume and not cherimoya. Weird.
TEXTURE Rating:
Smooth and creamy, slightly grainy like a soft pear.
TASTE Rating:
Tropical ice cream or pudding, just an insane mix of flavors from guava to banana to strawberry to pineapple all covered in a deep rich vanilla with a hint of spice.
OVERALL Overall Rating:
This tastes like exotic, cool creme brulee. I can’t believe this comes off the tree this way and did not require hours of mixing and baking and hovering on my part. As you may know, I like fruit quite a lot, but this is the first fruit that has knocked me over with love, particularly since it looks like a heart when you cut it in half. SWOON. It really is amazing. Find it and eat it.
FRUIT
Cherimoya
VARIETY
Dr. White
PEAK
Winter
ORIGIN
Ecuador,Columbia,Bolivia
GROWN
California
PURCHASED
Farmer’s Market
NOTES
Cherimoya is also called custard apple but of all the fruit flavors present here, apple isn’t really one of them so I am rejecting that name. You will see in the top picture a slightly different looking cherimoya with little nubs or nipples. That one has a pretty different flavor profile and I will talk about it later. I am giving you a few recipes below, but I personally can’t imagine changing one thing about this fruit other than eating it raw or maybe chilled a bit. Well, I would change one thing…those two cherimoyas cost me $12. Worth it? Yes. But highway robbery nonetheless.
RECIPES
Cherimoya Milkshake
Cherimoya Pancakes (scroll down)
The greatest tasting thing in the world. It has some relatives that aren’t quite as special, but still very good: pawpaw, biriba, soursop, sugar apple. Finding them in a supermarket in North Carolina is a rare and expensive treat.
I heard the same thing about pawpaw, biriba and soursop. But I heard the sugar apple is divine – perhaps even better than the cherimoya. I haven’t had any of them yet. Someday…
Lucky enough to be able to grow Cherimoya in the backyard. It is a surprise that most people are unfamiliar with this wonderful flavor.
Haven’t eaten any recently, but I’m a U.S. Foreign Service “brat” and this was an easily available fruit & flavor of juice, soda and much more back when we lived in South America in the late 1960s. Loved it back then, these days am having trouble finding it (or affording it when found)!
I know! They can be really pricey Brian. But when you get one, soooooo worth the wait.
I paid seven dollars for my cherimoya. I would have bought another one if they had any left.
They can be very pricey. Luckily they are becoming more common here in Southern California and so I am seeing them a *little* cheaper, but they’re no bargain.
I think this would be an interesting book for my son. He is aawlys asking if things can be planted ie apple seeds, orange seeds etcWill check this one out.Thanks for sharing Luanne
TRYING THE FIRST TIME AND I ORDERED A DR.WHITE CHERIMOYA FROM AMAZON ,THAT COME TODAY DON’T KNOW WHY THEY ONLY CAN GROW IN SOUTHERN CALIF. I WILL PLANTED IN A PLACE VERY TROPICAL CLOSE OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA WITH MILD WINTERS NO FROST , AND LOW TENPERATURES IN SOMER , LETS TRY ZIP 94560 !