Being in the south, I have access to a fruit that I never had access to up north: The Persimmon! One of my coworkers has a native north American persimmon tree on their property and let me pick as many as I wanted. I made sure to only pick the most over ripe ones I could find, and tried making a persimmon pudding as my first and only baked good. I didn’t realize how many seeds were inside the persimmons and had to use four times the fruit I originally estimated. The effort to get the pulp also makes me not very keen on baking with them again…

RECIPE: Persimmon Pudding 
Makes 9 Servings 

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Measuring Utensils
Mixer
Bowl for seeds
Greased Baking Dish
Oven set to 325 degrees

INGREDIENTS: 
1 Cup Persimmon Pulp
1 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1 Stick butter, melted
Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Flour

DIRECTIONS:
1) Separate the persimmons and seeds, placing the pulp in a measuring cup and the seeds in a bowl.
2) Once you have a full cup of persimmon pulp, place it in the mixer and combine with the 1 cup of sugar.
3) Beat in the 3 eggs and the milk.
4) Slowly add the melted butter.
5) Season with cinnamon and lots of freshly grated nutmeg.
6) Add the baking powder and flour, and mix until a batter is formed.
7) Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and bake for about an hour or until done.
8) Chill and then serve. Unlike other desserts, this one must be kept in the fridge.

While this was a tasty pudding, I can’t say I have any desire to bake it again. The amount of labor to get the persimmon pulp was much more than expected, and the flavor wasn’t amazing enough to make it worth repeating. If you have access to a more cultivated persimmon source with large fruit it may be worth it for you though!

Also, I am glad I can now say I have eaten and baked with local persimmons!