Persimmon: The prettiest fruit I’d never met before

I don't recall the very first time I ever caught a glimpse of them, but I do remember the first time I ever looked  closely at them.  I was shopping for vegetables for my minestrone soup last week when I saw them closely for the very first time, their vibrant blush, their incredible radiance.  I stopped dead in my tracks and whispered a haiku under my breath:

            Glowing red-orange
            Asian beauty, speak to me
            Like an ancient dream

Infatuation for sure, but I wanted to suddenly take some of this fruit home with me, not knowing what to do with it.  I wanted to see if I could fall in love.

As I embarked on a search for persimmon recipes, I quickly learned that there are astringent varieties and non-astringent varieties.  Astringent means that it's likely to make your mouth pucker if you don't allow it to ripen deeply before tasting it.  The Hachiya variety I bought was astringent.  OK, I needed to be patient.  I also learned that you should remove the skin before eating it, a task that is not easily accomplished once the fruit takes on a squishy, yet ripened texture.  So even with patience, it's likely to be messy.  I was starting to think this could be a difficult relationship.

I settled upon a recipe for a persimmon pudding cake.  I figured that even if I were to mishandle the fruit, I could hide any mishaps, inflicted wounds or general ineptitude in the mashed pulp hidden deeply within the cake. 

The cake turned out pretty good, given my past difficulties with baked goods recipes.  And I'd consider seeing the persimmon again.  But I'm hoping that the second time is a bit sweeter and more natural union between us.  If not, I suppose I can go back to the more familiar apple.

Do you have a favorite persimmon recipe?

Persimmon Pudding Cake

Ingredients
*  2 cups Hachiya persimmon pulp
*  4 eggs
*  1/2 cup butter (I stick), melted
*  3/4 cup milk
*  1 teaspoon vanilla
*  1-1/2 cups flour
*  1/2 cup sugar
*  1 teaspoon baking powder
*  1 teaspoon baking soda
*  1/2 teaspoon salt
*  2 teaspoons cinnamon
*  1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
*  1 teaspoon ginger
*  1 teaspoon allspice
*  1 cup chopped pecans
*  whipping cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees;
2. In a large bowl, mix the persimmon pulp, eggs, butter, milk and vanilla
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices;
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, one-third at a time, fully incorporating after each addition.  Add the chopped nuts;
5. Bake in a square glass pan, buttered, for about 50 minutes;
6. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

   

Comments

[Marissa]

My aunt swears by persimmon cookies. I hate spice...gingerbread, pumpkin pie...every last bit of that stuff (with the exception of the awesomeness of cinnamon) grosses me out. It ranks right up there with, um, mussels. ;o) In any event, this recipe looks similar to hers and got high ratings online.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Persimmon-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx

Give it another shot and let me know.

[mama d]

You've happened upon my family's traditional crop! Though the orchard is no longer fruitful, we still have our land down in Fallbrook, CA, where my great uncle and great grandfather grew Hachiya persimmons (mostly), avocados, cherimoyas, loquats, kumquats, sapotas, macadamia nuts, and an increasingly prickly amount of cacti. Try the persimmons frozen and eaten with a spoon ... they taste like a persimmon sorbet. You can also "ripen" them very quickly in the freezer.

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[slow cooker pot roast]

This looks great
Gonna try this tomorrow
Thanks

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My favorite! Too bad its rare in my place.