If, like me, you are new to cooking with persimmons let’s start with the basics. Persimmons are a fruit that are available in the United States from September to around December. Sweet in flavor, there are two main varieties: Fuyu, orange in color and tomato-shaped, and Hachiya, an acorn-shaped variety. It is key to choose a ripe persimmon from your market. A ripe persimmon will be a rich orange color and the skin should be smooth. The skin, by the way is edible but in most recipes you will need just the pulp of the fruit, usually mashed.
Fuyu Persimmons
Because of their seasonality, you see a lot of holiday recipes involving persimmons; everything from persimmon pudding, persimmon stuffing for meats, bitter green salads with sliced persimmons, and even caramelized persimmons for a unique dessert. Another popular way to cook with persimmons is in a coffee cake or quick bread. This recipe for Persimmon Bread was given to me by a good friend of mine, Helen Worthen. Anxious to cook with persimmons for the first time, this quick bread was calling my name. The lovely orange pulp of the persimmons turned the bread batter a lovely deep orange shade, all speckled with walnut pieces and golden raisins. I love this bread for its originality, perfect caramel-like sweetness and natural holiday feel. A perfect breakfast time treat for weekend guests, or to enjoy with loved ones on Christmas morning.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Persimmon Bread
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups self rising flour
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup persimmon pulp ( peeled 2 large persimmons and pureed the pulp in a mini food processor)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1/2 cup raisins – optional
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use Baker’s Joy to coat all sides of the loaf pan.
- In a small bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts and raisins (optional). In a larger bowl mix sugar, eggs and oil. Mix baking soda into pulp and let stand for 5 minutes; then mix ¼ cup water into the pulp. Add pulp mixture into sugar mixture and then fold in flour mixture.
- Put into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Tagged: fruit, golden raisins, persimmon, persimmon bread, quick bread, walnuts
Love the breads and this looks delicious! They seem to be all gone locally.
Thanks Mrs. Jan. It was my first time baking with persimmons and I just loved their flavor! I think their season ends in a couple of weeks, so they are probably starting to become hard to find. This bread was nice and almost tasted a little like gingerbread which I also love! It’s that great mixture between allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon…