Persimmon Bread

UPDATED-

November 2, 2020 and February 27, 2020 - See bottom of page for updates.

You never know what you are going to see while driving around Japan. It may be a small shrine tucked into a nook that took you two months to notice. {Seriously, I have driven past it almost every day for two months and just noticed it today.} Or a really cool large traditional Japanese style home mostly hidden behind a wall. Or random small lots used for gardening in the middle of the city. It was a lot with trees covered in persimmons that drew my attention shortly after we got here. I am familiar with persimmons from our time in Hawaii and occasionally would see them in the grocery store even in Colorado. If you are not familiar with them there are two types: Fuyu and Hachiya. Fuyu look like an orange tomato and can be eaten like an apple. Hachiya have a more oblong shape and need to ripen to the point they are VERY soft before they are edible. I have only tried and seen the Fuyu type so far.

I knew I needed take advantage of them being in season and do something with them. After an internet search I stumbled onto James Beard's recipe for Persimmon Bread on David Lebovitz's website. The foodie in me could not resist trying a James Beard recipe. Here is the link: www.davidlebovitz.com/persimmon-bread/ It was Monday of Thanksgiving week and I was in the mood for holiday baking. This bread sounded like it would fit the bill nicely. It also gave me a chance to use my new bread pan.

You can eat the skin but since I was going to puree the persimmons I felt it better to remove the skin in this case. Also, keep an eye out, some of them have large seeds you will need to remove.

Some of the persimmons had bad spots that I needed to cut out so I used 6 persimmons to get 2 cups of puree. Of course after I had pureed them I realized the webpage said to coarsely chopped them. Ah, well... if you notice the recipe also says to use Hachiya persimmons and I used Fuyu.

The finished product turned out AMAZING! The bread was SO moist and SO flavorful. I could not believe how good this bread was. To be honest, I do not actually like the way persimmons taste. They have a mild melon flavor, like a cantaloupe or a honeydew. I am not a fan of either. But this bread was incredible and did not taste anything like melon. David and I could not stop going back for 'one more bite' all night long. I saved the "pretty" loaf for David to work the next day.

The other loaf became my breakfast for the week of Thanksgiving. I WILL be making this bread again. It may become a new holiday season tradition.

If you didn't follow the link above here is the recipe with details on what I used:

Persimmon Bread

Adapted from Beard on Bread by James Beard.

Makes two 9-inch (23cm) loaves

NOTES- Using the higher amount of sugar will produce a moister and, of course, sweeter bread. I used 2 1/2 cups of sugar. The alcohol I used was Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whiskey. For the nuts I used walnuts. I chose dried cranberries for the dried fruit because they are my favorite. As stated previously, I used Fuyu persimmons instead of Hachiya.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 to 2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature

4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

2/3 cup Cognac, bourbon or whiskey

2 cups persimmon puree (from about 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)

2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

2 cups raisins, or diced dried fruits (such as apricots, cranberries, or dates)

Steps:

1. Butter 2 loaf pans. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess.

2. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC) 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 and raisins.

5. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Storage: Will keep for about a week, if well-wrapped, at room temperature. The Persimmon Breads take well to being frozen, too.

UPDATE Feb 27, 2020: After I made this post I found dried Hachiya persimmons at a local grocery store. They cost about $6 a package and looked like this:

These persimmons are considered a delicacy called hoshigaki. The skin has been removed and the fruit has been massaged by hand several times a week for about a month. The white powder on the surface is sugar produced by the fruit as it dries. Eaten, they have the texture of a dried apricot with a similar but milder flavor. They were good, but I don't see myself buying them again simply due to the cost.

Update November 2, 2020: It's persimmon season again so I made persimmon bread this weekend. This time I was able to achieve 2 cups of persimmon puree using only 3 persimmons. Also, I used Buffalo Trace bourbon this time. The bread turned out very good but I remember liking it more last year when I used Woodford Reserve.