Two Tasty Persimmon Recipes to Try This Season

If you grow persimmons or have a tree-owning neighbor who shares, you know that late fall brings a flood of fruit all at once. Hachiya persimmons especially need to be eaten quickly once they reach the right ripeness; you have a few days at most. Two old American recipes use a lot of fruit at once and produce some of the best fall baked goods you will eat all year.

Persimmon Walnut Quick Bread

A pumpkin-bread variant that swaps fully-ripe persimmon pulp for the pumpkin. The result is denser, fruitier, and slightly more complex in flavor.

Ingredients (1 loaf):

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pulp from very ripe Hachiya persimmons (about 2 large ones)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• Optional: ½ cup raisins or dried cranberries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a larger bowl, combine persimmon pulp, sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet in two batches, folding gently until just combined. Do not over-mix.
5. Fold in walnuts (and raisins or cranberries if using).
6. Pour into the loaf pan and smooth the top.
7. Bake 55 to 65 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Serves 8 to 10. Slice and serve with butter, soft cream cheese, or alongside coffee. Wrapped tightly, the bread keeps 4 to 5 days at room temperature and freezes well for 3 months.

Persimmon Pudding

A Southern American classic, dense and almost custard-like, halfway between a pudding and a sticky toffee cake. Indiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee all claim regional pride in this recipe.

Ingredients (one 8×8 baking dish):

• 1½ cups pulp from very ripe Hachiya persimmons (about 3 large ones)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon to serve

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8×8-inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, whisk persimmon pulp, sugar, milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet, whisking until just combined.
5. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
6. Bake 45 to 55 minutes until the top is set and golden brown and the center barely jiggles. The pudding will firm as it cools.
7. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

Tips for Both Recipes

• Use very ripe Hachiya. Unripe persimmon ruins both recipes; the tannins are bitter and pucker the mouth. Fully ripe Hachiya is jelly-soft to the squeeze, almost translucent.
• Scoop the pulp. Halve the fruit, scoop the soft pulp with a spoon, and pass through a sieve to remove skins and any seeds.
• Freeze the pulp. If you have a glut, scoop and freeze pulp in 1-cup portions for baking through winter.
• Don’t over-mix. Both quick bread and pudding suffer when stirred too aggressively. Fold gently to keep the tender crumb.

Cook by the Best Days Calendar

The Farmers’ Almanac Best Days calendar marks the most favorable days for canning, pickling, preserving, and baking, drawn from the moon’s signs and 200 years of almanac tradition.

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Where to Find Persimmons

Asian markets carry both Fuyu and Hachiya from October through December. Farmers’ markets in California, Florida, and the Mid-Atlantic stock them seasonally. Wild American persimmon trees grow across the eastern United States; foragers can find them dropping ripe fruit from October through early frost. The native fruit is smaller and sharper than commercial varieties but works well in these recipes.

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Farmers' Almanac Staff

This article was published by the Staff at FarmersAlmanac.com. Any questions? Contact us at questions@farmersalmananac.com.

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