Ginger Persimmon Bread
Persimmons are like cartoon fruit.
They’re so bulbous, sweet and juicy that… I dunno… I have a hard time believing that they’re a real life fruit.
Every year around this time, my mom shoves giant bag of super ripe oozing persimmons in my hands and I’m left to figure out what to do with them.
Soup? Gross. Candy? Weird. Softballs? Possibly. Inside of the refrigerator decorator? Yes.
Bread? Why the heck not?
Persimmons taste like… sugar. That’s the best way I can describe them.
I used the rounder Hachiya Persimmon for this recipe. Fuyu persimmons are more squat and firm. They’re not for baking. They’re for eating like an apple or putting on salads.
This bread is delicious. It’s got just a hint of spice from ginger. It’s moist and sweet… and it has large, baked in chunks of persimmon fruit. Perfectly seasonal.
Ginger Persimmon Bread
adapted from Epicurious the website
makes one 9x4x3-inch loaf
1/2 cup persimmon pulp
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9x4x3-inch loaf pan and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together persimmon pulp and baking soda. This will thicken the pulp a bit.
In a medium bowl…. (yea, we using a lot of bowls) whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, spices, and fresh ginger. Once well incorporated, whisk in the persimmon mixture. Pour the wet ingredients, all at once, into the dry ingredients. Fold to incorporate. Once no flour remains, pour into the loaf pan and place in the oven.
Bake loaf for 55 to 60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature before serving. Loaf lasts well wrapped at room temperature for up to five days.
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that looks delicious–i’ve actually never had persimmon (totally embarrassed!). that notepaper is hilarious…maybe it’ll pop-up on the giveaway page!
I haven’t tried persimmon either.
By the way, where’s the CHOCOLATE in this recipe?????
:)
The bread looks divoine!
Other ways to use up the persimmon:
My grandfather used to buy whole flats of them and leave them out on his balcony in winters – would bring in one when he was in the mood for it, peel back the skin (it’s OK, if the skin’s black) and eat it.
You could also try drying the things and making this persimmon drink: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sujunggwa. It has cinnamon in it, too.
i love the new header! just adorable :) and this bread? well, let’s just say it got bumped to the top of the “to make” list for when i get back in town ;)
how do you get the ‘pulp’ from the persimmon? do you peel & throw it in the food processor? I’ve never had one so sorry for my ignorance!
That sounds delicious! I love ginger-stuff and…have never had a persimmon. I’m a little nervous but maybe you have given me inspiration :)
Oooh, I’m very intrigued by this whole persimmon business. I’ve never tried one myself, but I think that I’m going to have to try and find some this fantastical beauties.
*these fantastical beauties.
Typos. >_<
I haven’t had persimmons since I lived in Portugal and they grew on the terrace. My land-lady used to make a heavenly persimmon custard, but sweet bread – mmmmmm – what a great idea! Also I agree with Joe@EdenKitchen, you should totally have your own baking show.
I’ve never had a persimmon…one more reason to try it. Love the notepad…
I drink persimmon juice, like, every day. It’s awesome, and you should make some if you have a juicer.
…Where’d you get that “You’re on my Sh*t List” thing? I want one…
Since no one is going to “shove a giant bag of super-ripe oozing persimmons into my hands” here in Kentucky, I think I will adapt this recipe and use maybe some shredded apples or even zucchini. Maybe just plumped-up raisins? I live in a not-big-metro area so finding persimmons in the grocery will be an exercise in futility even if I venture out to give it a shot. The bread alone sounds interesting with that much ginger in it.
Seems like if you have a little bit of computer ‘literacy’, you’d be able to make your own ‘Sh*t List’ notepaper, hmmmmmm?
Persimmon bread has always been something my family made during the holidays. The easiest way I have found to get the pulp is to freeze them and then defrost in a ziplock bag and they turn to mush, you just pull out the skin and stem give them a squeeze and you are good to go!
looks amazing. can’t wait to try this recipe!
I absolutely love trying things I have never had before – and funny, persimmons are one of them! But I do love Ginger, so I will definitely have to try this! maybe it will even make an appearance at Thanksgiving! Thanks for the recipe!
anyone care to venture a guess as to how many persimmons one would need to end up with 1/2 c. pulp?
Probably only one or two.
Oh, how big are your persimmons? The size I’ve seen grow here would take maybe 6. There is a big seed in them & you must allow for the peeling, so eyeball them & take a guess. I know they do have some large ones in the stores here, but have never seen the small ones in stores, but they grow on small trees here in W. KY……but no good till after a good frost has been on them.
I always pass by persimmons in the sore because they confuse me….They kinda look like a tomato so it seems wrong that they’d be super sugary sweet! I may pop a few in my basket the next time I pass by!
my friend has a persimmon tree in her backyard and is always willing to share her surplus, but they are the type (fuyu) that you are supposed to eat crunchy. do you think they would work in this recipe? should i cook them first or something to soften them up?
by the way, i did see that you say they are not for baking within your post. but i’m desperate!
My family has a fuyu persimmon tree and we use them for baking all the time, especially if they’re a little bit soft, in which case they aren’t as great for eating fresh. I just grate them by hand and use the pulp the same way.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve used hachiya persimmons for baking, so I’m not sure if the results are absolutely identical, but it should come out fine either way.
great, thank you! now i can definitely take some persimmons off my friends’ hands.
I NEED that “Shit List” note pad! And a slice of this bread, too. Thanks for introducing me to something new, Joy! This bread looks incredibly delicious.
Interesting! I may use this in the culinary arts class that I teach!
That look absolutely delicious! That persimmons was playing trick on me till I google it and realize it’s a “sharon fruit” that’s what we call it in Britain, Funny thing about it is I never tasted them before.
That loaf of bread looks great–my parents love this fruit! For some reason, all I can think about now is how much I’d like to name my future cat ‘Persimmons’… The next time i see some of that fruit sitting in the fridge i am definitely making this. Thanks for the recipe Joy >:)
That notepaper is amazing I need to get my hands on some cool notepaper.
I’ve never had a persimmon. Clearly I need to look into it.
I have never baked with Persimmons but this bread is motivating!
I’d also like advice on how to get the persimmon pulp… Did you just put in chunks? Or blend it down to applesauce consistency?
I’ve never bought persimmons before, because I didn’t know what to do with them. But now I do! Success! I think I’ll have to try this, on the weekend.
And I love you’re writing, by the way…
I thnk you just like saying persimmon. :)
I’ve been seeing persimmons in the grocery store over the last few weeks but had no idea how to handle them or what to do with them or what on earth they’d taste like. thanks for demystifying this fruit!
I have never cooked with persimmons – just eatten them in chunky slices. But this bread looks so yummy and moist! I’ll have to search out some persimmons.
Oh, yum! I’m so jealous that you have access to ripe persimmons. I love this season in Japan ’cause you can just eat them constantly, but unfortunately they have never been as tasty here in Vancouver. You’re right, they are sweet deliciousness. Mmm…living vicariously through you right now. FYI, also delicious dried :)
I love the sh*t list!
Persimmons are great. Last year I made some tasty persimmon oatmeal cookies from cooks.com. Ginger and persimmon sounds pretty tasty. Your bread looks dee-lish!
I haven’t had a persimmon since I was a kid. I can’t remember much about it…just remember Dad picking one off a tree and giving it to me. If I find any persimmons in the grocery store, I’d like to try to make this bread. Sounds intriguing. About how many persimmons do you think I’d need to get 1/2 cup of pulp?
You read my mind. I was literally just thinking that I wanted to make some persimmon bread this morning, and I thought I would have to do a search on the internet for a recipe; except, when I opened my emails this morning, there it was! A recipe for persimmon bread waiting for me :) Thanks, Joy. Only thing, I don’t see an oven temp for this recipe? Can I assume that 350 is cool?
My bad! I’m blind. Ignore my question about the oven temp. It’s right there staring at me, and I just didn’t see it. Well, off to make this bread.
I stood in Whole Foods for a few minutes tonight just holding a fuyu persimmon wondering how I was supposed to eat it. I ultimately put it back because I had no clue. Thanks to you I might go buy it tomorrow.
Yuck – persimmon should be banned. They taste like sweet farts.
Bread. Persimmons. Ginger. You got me.
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for sharing
I LOVE persimmons!!! Fresh or dried! But never had it in a bread. Just saw some super-ripe persimmons on offer in the market yesterday but thought they were too ripe (soft) to be good. But now that I saw your recipe, I think I can go get some of them. :) Thanks Joy!
Yum! I hitting print as soon as I finish this comment. I’ve never used persimmon but this sounds great. I need to start some winter comfort baking.
Joy, this cake looks absolutely delicious. I love this time year, especially because Persimmon’s are here and available! Can’t wait to try this!
Love persimmons! My grandmother made a persimmon pudding that simmered all day in the top of a double boiler. Definitely will try this bread. It sounds delicious with a pot of English breakfast tea.
Sad to say that finding the right ingredients for this would be close to impossible ( where I live) .. so I am going to just save the recipe for whenever I might possibly get to shop in a store like Whole Foods again :)
If you want to mail me a loaf, that is fine too … although my guess is Argentine Customs will enjoy the cake more than I will.
un beso
Yummy. I haven’t had persimmons since Italy. By the way, I love that you “Joy the Baker” header changes with the seasons!
hay JtB — how do we know if we won something on your November Giveaway? Can you list the winners? I sure hope I get the Cakepops book!!!!
This bread just looks delicious! I’ve never tried persimmon before and in fact I’ve just discovered them! Thanks for this nice recipe!
How amazingly funny….I was thinking of Persimmons these past few days. A friend of mine gave me Fuju persimmons a few years back and I ate them just like an apple. They were really good. This bread looks too awesome to ignore. I MUST bake this. The clincher is to find someone who is looking to dump their bounty of fruit my way. :)
Joy, a reader of the kitchn asked what to do with persimmons… I was going to reference her to this post but someone beat me to it. http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/good-questions/what-can-i-cook-or-bake-with-persimmons-good-questions-131573
BTW, I am a loyal reader of your blog….love it!
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Thank YOU, another awesome looking recipe to try. Perfect for the cold weather months and a cuppa.
Great photos too! Cindy
I like coffee that tastes like coffee and coffee that tastes like pie. Also, coffee that tastes like egg nog is good.
this sounds delicious, but what is the water for?
I had never seen these before coming to Spain, but they are wonderful, and I will hopefully trying out this wonderful looking bread as well. Thank you.