I’ve never had much of an opinion on Persimmons. I’ve had firm persimmons that taste like cinnamon-tinged apples and squishy persimmons that taste like chalky papaya. That is until I was in Japan and had a belgian waffle with persimmon mascarpone creme and caramelized persimmon. The Japanese treasure persimmons as a cornerstone of fall cuisine, appearing in breakfast dishes, in drinks and even in meat sauces. When I returned to New York in the middle of October, I saw droves of persimmons in baskets outside grocery stores and at farmer’s markets, and they were cheap. I decided to educate myself on persimmon firmness and found that there are actually two types of Persimmons commonly found in the US: Fuyu and Hachiya. I learned that the source of my indifferent feelings towards persimmons was that I’d probably had an unripe Hachiya or an over ripe Fuyu. I decided to pick up two pounds of Fuyu persimmons to try my hand at using them in a dish. I should have looked for a recipe before I shopped since it turns out the softer Hachiya is better for baking. Alas, I decided to give my Fuyus a chance to shine in James Beard’s persimmon bread recipe. I based my recipe on one from David Leibovitz’ blog but changed a few things and increased the cooking time. The amount of nuts seemed a bit well….nuts, so I reduced that and took out the dried fruit aspect. I also used a mandolin to shave paper thin slices of persimmon to sit on top and made persimmon muffins since I don’t own two loaf pans.
Looking for other ways to use persimmons? Try my Persimmon Bars or Persimmon Ice Cream.
Persimmon Bread
Makes 1 loaf and 12 muffins
3½ cups sifted flour
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2½ cups sugar
1 cup melted unsalted butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cup Jack Daniels whiskey
2 cups persimmon puree (from about 4 Fuyu persimmons)
1 whole persimmon
1 1/2 cups walnuts
Method
1. Butter 1 loaf pan and 1 muffin tin. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Sift the first 5 dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
4. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree then the nuts. Pour into muffin cups and loaf pan.
5. Using a mandoline, shave the whole persimmon into medallions and arrange in two neat rows on top of the loaf. Place one medallion on each muffin.
5. Bake for 1 hour and remove the muffin tin, cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
UPDATE:
If you liked my persimmon bread why not try my persimmon ice cream?
Just made this tonight – Excellent recipe!!!! I used over-ripe Fuyu persimmons so they were closer in consistency to ripe Hachiya persimmons. Note: Fill the muffins pretty full – almost to the rim – they do not rise much. I did the standard 3/4 full and ended up making 17 “short” muffins instead of 12 full muffins. I put a small piece of sliced persimmon on each muffin – yumm! We have not yet cut into the loaf – but the persimmon slices on top really spread out. I suggest crowding the fresh persimmon on top as the loaf rises and the persimmon slices got really spread out. I suggest a row of slices along the top, and two more rows on either side (over-lapping). Enjoy, this is a great recipe!!!!
Thanks for the feedback Barb! I’m glad you share my love of persimmons.
Oh, and I did not include walnuts as my husband is allergic – no nuts worked great.
How did you puree the fuyus? They are quite firm so I was thinking of throwing them in my food processor or cooking them first.
Hi Wendy,
Yep – just throw them in the food processor.
Thanks! I can’t wait to try this tonight. Your pictures look delicious!
because I don’t drink, I have no Jack Daniels on hand. What would you substitute?
Hi Mike! I haven’t tested this yet, but I would recommend substituting 2/3 cup unsweetened apple juice OR even apple sauce? You still want the somewhat smoky flavor of the the whiskey so here’s a crazy idea: heat 2/3 cup apple juice on the stove till just barely boiling. Then add a black tea bag (lapsang souchong if you want really smoky) to steep for 5 minutes. Let me know if you try it!
x Ally Jane
Hi Ally, I’m wondering if you peeled your Fuyus before processing them? The bread looks delicious and the persimmon slices are beautiful on top!
Hi Lisa,
Yes, I did peel the Fuyus before processing them!
-Ally Jane
I just made this recipe and it turned out excellent! I did what a previous reviewer suggested and used three rows of persimmon slices on the top of the loaf. They sort of clumped all together on top and there is still a lot of exposed bread on the sides after baking, so next time I might try tucking the slices into the side of the loaf a bit. I used about 1/2 of the nutmeg because I used freshly ground nutmeg and it’s always so much stronger than pre-ground, but now I wish I had used a bit more – maybe 3/4. I’m definitely making this again to use up all of our extra fuyus! Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for this recipe.
I played around with it a bit:
I added 1 tsp of Baking Powder so that it would rise more.
Instead of 2.5 cups of sugar, Used 1/2 c white sugar & 3/4 of brown sugar
Used Pecans instead of Walnuts because I am from the south;-)
Added: 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Everything else I kept the same.