Sometimes called a custard apple or sherbet fruit, the cherimoya looks like an oversize green pinecone. It is grown in South and Central America and the Caribbean, and recently has been cultivated in California and Florida. The cherimoya is a wonderful dessert fruit. The flavor of its sweet, juicy, custardlike flesh echoes that of other fruits. Depending on the variety, it may have hints of pineapple, papaya, banana, mango, or strawberry. Half a medium-size cherimoya has about 250 calories. The fruit is a good source of vitamin C and also supplies some iron.
Look for cherimoyas in specialty produce stores in winter and early spring.
Select fruits of any size with uniform yellow-green color, and let them ripen at room temperature until just softened (like a ripe peach) but not mushy, then chill and serve cold.
The easiest way to eat this seed-filled fruit is to spoon it from the shell.