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, fresh ginger and water. 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.
Lily Mullen
I love persimmons and this recipe sounds wonderful! Yes, ginger on everything! Just wanted to point out that if you let Fuyu persimmons (the squat ones) ripen on the counter, they also become soft. To hurry the softening process for baking, I’ve frozen hard (but ripe) Fuyus and then thawed them, and voila! they are soft and ready to use in a recipe such as yours. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
Carly
This bread is delicious! I had never had persimmons before and came across them in my local grocery store. I wanted to try them, but did not know what to do with them. I tried this recipe last year and loved it. I just saw persimmons in the store again and can’t wait to make some more. The only change I made, was that I added little bits of crystallized ginger to the batter and sprinkled a little brown sugar over the top (I do that with banana bread and love it). Thank you for sharing.
Charlotte
What another generous year for persimmons! I have so many I don’t know what to do with them. Every recipe seems to require so few. You mention freezing soft hachiyas, so I’m wondering about the possibility of freezing them before they are sweet softness. What do you think? My countertop is covered with them waiting to ripen. I need work space for Thanksgiving and Christmas baking. Will I ever be able to use them all???
Kristi
There’s water in the ingredient list, but it’s not mentioned in the instructions. Do I add it in with the persimmon mixture?
joythebaker
Yes!
Elissa
Hi, where does the water come into this recipe? Are we supposed to add water to the flour along with the “wet ingredients”? A little unclear. Thanks!