We Love Persimmons, Especially Especially During the Christmas Season

I did not grow up with persimmons in southern Virginia being a thing or at least I was not aware of them!

Dessert breads are so popular, especially during the holidays! I used to bake banana bread for all of our neighbors and have our children deliver them and they were always well received. I wanted to concoct a persimmon bread recipe that rivalled my much requested banana bread. We now love persimmons, especially during the Christmas Season.

We also started researching persimmons, and what I learned is that there are four common types of persimmons: the Saijo, Sheng, Hachiya, and the Fuyu, which is the one we got our hands on. There are probably even more varieties than that. The word “fuyu” is of Japanese origin, and the word “persimmon” comes from Powhatan, an Algonquian language of the eastern United States, meaning “a dry fruit.” (Persimmon: Wikipedia)

If it was not for a neighbor sharing their windfall of persimmons with us, this research would never have taken place and I would never have created this amazing recipe, which I love! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have and we have shared with friends and co-workers and they all gave me the thumbs up too.  

I think persimmons taste like a sweet plum, but everyone seems to have a different opinion. Some say it tastes like pumpkins and others even think they taste like dates, regardless they are yummy!

If you touch your persimmon and it slightly gives, it’s time to peel them and process them.

Persimmons are often foraged for, but many people still do not know what to do with them, so I hope this blog post is helpful if you stumble upon them.

Karen Lynn’s Persimmon Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup persimmon fruit pulp
• 2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 cup light cream
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter (soft)
• 1 cup chopped pecans — optional (yes, I live in North Carolina)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together and set aside.

3. Place the persimmon fruit, cream, sugar, eggs, and butter in your mixing bowl and blend. Add the flour mixture until all blended, and then add in the nuts.

4. Pour into a well-greased loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3).

5. Bake for about 45 minutes, but test with a toothpick about 5 minutes before time is up (just to make sure, as all ovens are different).

Once you pull the bread out of the oven, let it cool, slice it up, and enjoy with some delicious eggnog!

The Viking and I wish you all a happy holiday season!

Fondly,