Persimmon Pudding

Ripe persimmon fruits are sweet, soft and delicious, but the green ones are hard, firm, extremely astringent and completely inedible. When gathering the fruits it is best to wait until they fall from the tree, to be assured of the sweet product.

Wash the fruit and and run it through a colander to separate the pulp from the seeds. The resulting pulp can be used in a variety of dishes. One of Jim's favorites – Persimmon Pudding – is given below:

Persimmon Pudding

• 1 qt. of persimmon pulp
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, or cloves as desired
• Milk, as needed

With an electric mixer, cream sugar and shortening together. Mixing after each addition, add eggs,then persimmon pulp, then add the dry ingredients and chosen spices. Add enough milk to give the mixture the consistency of pumpkin pie filling.

Place in a buttered pan large enough to accept the mixture with some headroom and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the pudding comes out clean (30 to 45 minutes).

Ruby's note - The finished "pudding" is dense and chewey, with a consistency almost like that of a brownie.

More about Persimmons, from our Natural Events Archive