- 2 brimming cups of persimmon pulp (fruits should be squishy ripe, and incidentally, pulp freezes well)
- 3 and 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- Pinch (maybe half a teaspoon) of nutmeg or allspice
- 2 cups sugar (either brown sugar or refined sugar works fine)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter (allow to cool to room temperature after melting)
- 4 large eggs, lightly whisked
- 1 cups black walnuts (you can substitute of lightly toasted and chopped pecans or English walnuts)
- 2 cups dried fruit such as apricots, raisins, yellow raisins, or dates
- 2/3 cup bourbon (a cheap brand is fine)
Butter a pair of loaf pans or use non-stick pans. Sift flour, salt, spice, baking soda, and sugar into a large plastic mixing bowl. Whisk in the butter, eggs, bourbon, and persimmon pulp until thoroughly mixed. Add and whisk in nuts and dried fruit. Place batter in pans and slide into pre-heated 350-degree oven. Check periodically as bread begins to brown by inserting a toothpick. When the toothpick comes out clean the bread is ready. Cooking time varies depending on configuration of pans you use.
NOTE: Once cooled, wrap to keep moist. The bread will keep several days (but likely be eaten much sooner) and it freezes well. It is rich and somewhat reminiscent of a dark fruit cake.
JC
—Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food written by Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley
There was a huge persimmon tree below Pap and Granny’s house so I had ample opportunity to sample the gooey sweetness during my growing up years. You’ve likely heard of folks playing jokes on people who aren’t familiar with persimmons by getting them to eat one that isn’t ripe. The result of doing that is a taste you will never forget.
While I like the small persimmons that grow wild around my mountain holler I love the Asian varieties. Jim first introduced them to me many years ago when he shared some fruit from his tree.
They are much larger, easier to eat, and have less of the astringent taste that can sometimes linger in wild persimmons even though they are fully ripe.
My top two favorite fruits are watermelon and blueberries. The Asian persimmons come in a very close third.
Several years ago Matt got me an Asian persimmon tree. It lived (barely) for a couple of years and then died. We planted it in a terrible place so the poor growth was our fault. Now that we have the big garden we need to plant one down there where it will get more sunshine and have better drainage.
Back in early fall a dear couple from Hayesville heard me say I love Asian persimmons. They gave me a box full from their tree. They thought I might make persimmon bread or jelly with them.
When I told them I planned to eat every last one of them myself they were surprised. But that’s exactly what I did.
I’m the only one here who likes them. Every day I checked the box to see if any were soft enough for me to eat. Some days I ate three at once. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite till the box was empty.
I’ve made persimmon bread in the past and it’s mighty tasty. One year Matt brought home a bucketful from deer camp. The hardest part of using wild ones is getting the pulp out of the skins. Although a teejus task, it is well worth it.
Last night’s video: Hanging Our Christmas Cards.
Tipper
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I’m making this bread today!! Whew! That’s a lot of bourbon…
I forgot yesterday was Monday–too many drugs from the gout prescriptions—but watched it on replay, thank you for mentioning me on the prayer request (I kept forgetting I was not watching the live as I would start to make a comment several times and then realize oops no one what I am talking about ha) this morning (day after the live) I can walk better than I have in a week so am going to continue not taking the heavily medicated drugs and get back on advil because I do not like the drugged state unable to think or talk right thank you everyone who prayed not only do I believe in prayer and God but I also believe the more people praying the better another think I love is persimmons (wild ones, not so much the ones you get in grocery store) my brain i still affected by the drugs so I best quit trying to say anything else for now except still praying for granny
I had an elderly friend who annually made persimmon pie around Thansgiving. I was always curious to get a taste, but it was a bit of a task to get enough to feed her large family. This is the first I’ve heard about the bread. You never fail to educate, entertain and endear yourself and family to me! God bless everyone of your family, your friends in person and online. Merry Christmas to all! Your home is chock full of Christmas cheer, loving and giving. I miss seeing precious Granny. More prayers to follow! Enjoy those wee tots! BTW, the best gift I’ve gotten for the holiday, is the Christmas card from you, Tipper!!! I sure do appreciate it. You are the busiest sweet little lady that I know.
My husband’s grandmother used to make persimmon cookies, bread etc. I have never tried it. Maybe some day.
As always praying for Granny.
Hi Tipper!!
It is to cold for persimmon trees to grow here in the Blue Ridge. They are so good!! If one has never had one they are missing a real treat!
We were in California several years ago when our son’s business partner’s mother’s persimmon tree had an over abundance of fruit. He brought us a bag full. These persimmons were about the size of peaches
and so good.
I plan to keep your recipe and look around the fruit stands to see if they can get them.
When I read your recipe it sounds a lot like the fruit cake recipe my mother made with out the candied fruits and it sounds a lot like the banana bread I have prepared.
Thank-you so much. This recipe will definitely get used over and over. Kathy Patterson
I have never eaten a persimmon. I also have never seen a persimmon tree. I don’t know if they grow in my area of Appalachia. I loved watching you and Matt hanging all of your cards. The huge amount you receive shows there are lots of people who watch your videos, read your blog and appreciate you all so much…including me. I also really enjoyed Katie going to her friend, Donna’s, and showing us her beautiful Christmas trees. It made me tired just watching. I am happy to get one up and decorated. lol. Have a very Merry Christmas and prayers and blessings for Granny and the whole gang.
The reason persimmons are astringent is obviously to discourage animals from eating them before they’re ripe. They may LOOK pretty and like they are ready to be eaten, but they’re the sort of tree fruit that is only palatable once there’s been frosty nights. Such fruit includes medlars, rowans, quinces and serviceberries. Those are all trees the Scots/Scots-Irish and Moravians who settled NC would have known back home, and may have brought some over with them. Frankly, since serviceberries were good for making into beer (“service” being an Anglicized version of “cerveza,” Spanish for “beer”), I’m guessing that the Scots/Irish used it for that purpose. Western NC is pretty much the farthest South area where you can rely on there being snow in the winter, so persimmons that rely on frost to taste good (i.e., around Thanksgiving time) would naturally be eaten around then and carried elsewhere by the critter that ate it and might be deposited somewhere else where the ground hasn’t yet completely frozen and there is only patchy snow cover (if even that).
This sounds delicious. I have tried persimmon and was warned ahead of time how to avoid a sour one. The ones I have tried have been really tasty. I have only eaten them, never had enough at one time to bake anything with. I love this story Tipper, and all of the stories and Randy’s funny one with Jerry Clower : ) When my husband and I were visiting at Oak Island in September I saw a tall narrow looking tree over on the side of a road with round orange fruit on it. I wondered if it was a persimmon tree but we never got a close look at it.
Daddy took me and my sister to his old home place to pick persimmons every year. So much fun. He was a prankster but thankfully he never tried getting us to try and unripe persimmon.
Good memories. Merry Christmas and blessings to you all.
Tipper this brings back a memory of my grandfather, Charles Hall. He loved persimmons and would yell across the way for one of us kids to pick one and bring it to him.
I tried to be the one to always do that for grandpa. It made me happy to see how much he enjoyed persimmons.
I’ve never seen so many Christmas cards! You’re loved and admired by so many and by me too, although I didn’t send a card.
You’re all simply yourselves and down to earth, just like family.
You looked adorable last night in your hat, like one of your girls, and Matt is such a loving family man.
Prayers for Granny and for you all.
I’ve never had a persimmon, but I’d like to try one. It’s funny that the beautiful ones on the tree are still not ripe and ready, tricky little things.
Good morning Tipper! Enjoyed your video last night. I have never tried a persimmon. I will put it on my bucket list.
Mom always made persimmon pudding every Christmas (and Thanksgiving). It was my favorite! Hers only had persimmons (no other fruits and no liquor). We loved that sweet and yummy dessert. Such a great memory of our family Christmases when our parents were still here with us. I expect there will be Persimmon Pudding in Heaven because God created such a delicious thing! Merry Christmas! Jane in SC
I wonder why the recipe specifies a “plastic mixing bowl”. I have one I mix your biscuit recipe up in but that’s only three cups at the most. From the looks of it this recipe would be about twelve cups. I have two larger glass bowls and the metal bowl on my stand mixer.
I don’t think I would want to try persimmon bread but the recipe says I could use other dried fruits. I was thinking apples and raisins.
I don’t know what bourbon tastes like (and never will) so what do you suggest I use as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Ed, any bowl will work and I use vanilla 🙂
I just read my vanilla flavoring ingredients 35% alcohol. That’s more than some liquors and cheap bourbons. Customs years ago included vanilla as alcohol when entering the country.
I am thinking about using a bourbon flavoring instead of real bourbon. The alcohol burns off in the cooking process and the flavor is left. I am surprised it doesn’t have molasses or brown sugar in it.
My husband is a diabetic but I can make it using artificial sweetener so he can enjoy a yummy bread/cake. I like the plastic bowl too. When my boys were growing up we used plastic mixing bowls. Now I have my large glass pyrex mixing bowl. I was thinking about too using a cast iron baking utensil to get a heavy crust. Yes, I am excited about finding some persimmons and trying the recipe!!
Kathy Patterson
Tipper–I just now read this and have a couple of thoughts. First, as Harry rightly says, vanilla is about as alcoholic as some bourbon. In both cases, if the alcohol aspect is bothersome, it doesn’t really matter. All of the alcohol vanishes in the cooking process.
As for the specifications for a plastic bowl, I should have said plastic or glass. Metal bowls are out because with persimmons, and it’s true for a good many other things as well, there can be interaction with the metal that affects taste. In my own kitchen doings I rely pretty much exclusively on glass, but this came directly from the card on which Momma had meticulously typed out the recipe on an old portable, manual typewriter and I failed to pay enough attention.
Incidentally, I’ve now been without an oven for precisely one full month, and you never realize how much you use one until you don’t have one to use. I’ve got a new one bought and paid for (mercy they are high), but by comparison to Lowe’s delivery and installation the flow of molasses on the coldest day of the year is ultra-fast.
As one of the other acorns pointed out, the spit seeds give you a knife, a spoon or a fork. A neighbor had a persimmon tree. The neighborhood kids would split them and if you got a fork you were the winner. We all knew (by experience), never to try an unripe persimmon! I liked them when they were ripe.
Just this summer I discovered a wild persimmon tree at the very far corner in the back of our property. I was unsure at first, but after the fruit was ripe and I showed friends that had persimmon trees and a taste test afterwards confirmed it was indeed a wild persimmon tree. By the time I finish getting confirmation it was real persimmons, the wildlife ate all the fruit except a few on top of the tree that I couldn’t reach. I figured they needed it more than I did. Maybe next year I can harvest two cups worth of persimmons so I can try this bread recipe. It sounds delicious. I know I won’t try to harvest more than needed for the recipe because I think our wild life needs it in our area more than I do. There is building going on all around us and they are taking out the habitat for our local wildlife. They have no where to live or find their own food. We’ve always had wildlife like deer, squirrels, possums, foxes, skunks, or raccoons and even a bobcat was spotted by a neighbor taking an early morning jog. The animals have never bothered our gardens, landscapes or trash cans. I’m now concerned with all the woods being taken down to build more houses that natural balance of us humans coexisting with wildlife will come to an end, sadly. So any wild berry bushes, wild muscadine grapes or persimmons growing on my property I’ll leave for them to eat and hope they will continue to leave my garden area alone. Don’t know if that will work or not since so much of their food sources are gone now, but I guess I’ll find out. I’m hoping for the best.
Christine, you don’t say where you live but you could very well be writing about upstate SC, especially Greenville County. I bet if you asked these people that are buying and moving into these homes, most of them would claim they love wildlife and would never do anything to harm them. They would claim it is the hunters that destroy or harm the wildlife. The hunters money is doing more to protect wildlife than any other thing being done.
I was fortunate to grow up with a persimmon tree by our crib. Every fall I enjoyed the fruits of that tree. it only takes once to eat a persimmon that’s not ripe.
Wishing everyone a Wonderful Christmas week.
Growing up, there were lots of wild ones in the woods around our house. They were so small we’d have to have a million to make a loaf of bread. Lol BUT, several years ago I saw some large ones. I don’t remember where. I always wanted some of them but never saw any of them for sale. The cards were so pretty. I love art of any kind and the picture beside the tree that has a lot of white in it; what is the picture of? I could never make it out? Merry Christmas. Tell Katie that I understand how it makes you feel when some people send mean comments. When I first started making my videos of Smoky Mountain Heritage with Drama one viewer told everyone that was reading not to follow me that I was an unsafe canner. I had to stop making them NOT because of her comment, but because of my disabled daughter. You are a people of faith and Satan will use ANY MEANS AND ANYONE to stop your testimony. Keep on for the cause of Christ. This world needs him now more than ever. You have a platform. Use it for him. God bless.
I’ve never in all my 58 years ate or seen a persimmon- American wild, Asian tame or any whatsoever for that matter. A few years ago I was walking in an alley and finally saw a paw paw hull laying on the ground. I was really excited for I knew an animal had eaten it. I never did find the paw paw tree. Quite frankly, I was in the middle of the worst situation I’d ever experienced in my life (in the middle of it when Helene came and made it all much worse. It was the worst time of my entire life.) I’ve never ate a paw paw or held one or a persimmon neither! Talk about missing the boat-honey, I’m behind the times on this one!!!! I had ornamental persimmons in my yard in WV and that bush was unkillable… lol
Our neighbor has two Asian persimmon trees that produced a lot of fruit . I am surprised they grow so well here in Alabama. I will plant some this spring
One thing about persimmons is you better get them before the wildlife does. Deer, bears, grouse and other birds, raccoons, of course possums, etc. absolutely love persimmons. They are not good to eat until there has been maybe a couple of hard frosts. I have heard of people getting them off the tree or the ground before they are soft and simulating cold weather by putting them in the freezer. The Asian variety is good. I have helped make persimmon pudding. It is a moist bread like a figgy pudding. Very good.
Beside the road just past my driveway are several of the largest persimmon trees that I have ever seen. Every year I look forward to enjoying those wild American persimmons. The trees usually bear heavily. I like the Asian persimmons too but the depth of flavor of the wild ones fantastic.
It’s been quite a few years since I’ve had a persimmon, but I love them. I’ve only ever had the wild ones. I don’t remember the taste of the unripe ones, but I remember the puckering sensation it gave my mouth! Wow!
My experience with a not quite ripe persimmon is over 50 years old and still very much bright in my mind!! I was fascinated by the old wives tale of predicting winter by splitting the stones. A spoon shape means heavy snow, a knife strong winds and a fork, a mild winter. We’d gather several and see which “utensils” showed up the most and wait to see if the predicted weather followed.
Even though I have lived in the country all of my and have been around wild persimmon trees, I have never tried eating them. Too many stories of how sour they could be. Two funny persimmon stories- Jerry Clower telling about Marcell switching out the communion wine at church with green persimmon wine, and the congregation having to whistle the closing hymn after having the Lord’s Supper. Another is of one of the Mann boys from Alabama (Mann’s bait company) breaking his arm one morning while eating breakfast when he was a young boy. The boy said because of being so poor and having nothing to eat, he had climbed up a persimmon tree and was eating the persimmons for breakfast and fell out of the tree. He didn’t say, reckon he got ahold of a sour one?
I love persimmon pudding. I used to work for a lady that made it on occasion & it was absolutely delicious! I have her recipe but never had access to persimmons, so I have never made it.
Prayers for Granny & Merry Christmas to all!
Persimmon always make me think of fall and those cool autumn days going hunting. There was a big tree behind mama and daddy’s house and I would often walk by it on the way to the woods and would often stop to look at the orangish purple persimmons on the grounf. i
just love that word teejus. Thats another one of those words that I’ve always heard and said, but never really thought about as being unfamiliar or odd to some people. I notice it when I see it written out and don’t give it a second thought when I say it.
“Teejus” = “tedious”
If it ain’t, then I guess I don’t know “dialect pronunciations”!
A few years ago my son wanted to try them and so I bought a few. We got home from the store and he was anxious to try them. He thought they tasted terrible. He said how can anybody eat that.
Here in Indiana, we have an abundance of the wild persimmon trees. We don’t seem to be able to grow much else in the clay here – but those do well. This year was a great year for them too. I use Jim’s recipe from the cookbook every time I make the bread. It’s so tasty. Merry Christmas Tipper to you and yours!
Same!
I love persimmons that I find in the grocery store and assume they are the Asian variety as they are large and so pretty. Delicious fresh and raw. Daddy tricked me into biting one many years ago with a small wild one in my Aunts backyard and I never wanted another. It warms my heart remembering the way he laughed that day. He was such a prankster. I’ll be buying some to make this bread for Christmas Eve. Thanks Tipper.
I enjoyed the hanging of the Christmas Cards. Mine are always falling off the door facings when I use tape.
I’ve never tried persimmons and have not seen them for sale.
Your family friend, Donna, really has some beautifully decorated Christmas trees. I enjoyed the tour of her home.
Christmas is almost here. Think snow☃️☃️☃️ Prayers for Granny to feel better❤️❤️
You have the nicest husband. You two make a perfect match. Merry Christmas.
I tried the Asian variety for the first time a few weeks back. I don’t believe it was completely ripe since it was almost like crunchy-firm, but it had a pleasant enough taste. I dearly love wild persimmons, though, even after suffering from one that wasn’t yet ripe. That was 30 years ago and the memory hasn’t faded even a little bit. This past November I got to introduce my 15 year old grandson to wild persimmons and he loved them. I tried to share the wisdom of my experience, telling him that if the fruit appears to be perfect and makes your mouth water just looking at it, DON’T EAT IT! Your mouth won’t be able to water again for an uncomfortable while! Instead, look for the fruit on the ground that’s a bit wrinkly, darker, kind of beat up looking…then try a cautious little pinch of the pulp, just in case. His daddy described the taste of one that’s not ripe enough as “imagine you licked your stick of deodorant.” I’m betting none of us have done that, but we can somehow imagine what it’s like and I believe it’s a perfect description.
We love persimmon pudding and I use my grandma’s recipe, which is the best in my opinion. This recipe you shared sounds really good, so I’m going to try it.
You had made a comment about separating the skin from the pulp on the native wild persimmon, do you use a colander? That is what I use and while it doesn’t completely get the skin out, it’s so small we don’t notice it.
Denise, that is how I do the small wild ones 🙂
thank you for the recipe, I bet that would be some wonderful bread, I’ve had some persimmons from the tree, off the ground around the tree, they’ve got to be ripe, God bless you and have a great Christmas
Good Morning Tipper. TY for the Persimmon recipe. I loved watching the card hanging video last night and saw the card I sent. It brought back memories from when Mama hung hers. I remembered Christmas Cards Daddy sent to the 4 of us girls when he was stationed in Vietnam. He bought them while he was in Japan either on leave or before getting to Vietnam for his second tour there. I was 7 years old. The card is white with an insert of white silk and an image is painted on i in back ink. I think it i a Woman dressed in a Kimono. I will have to find it sometime. I was so sorry to hear of everything Granny is going thru at the bank. People can be so mean and don’t care who they target. I’m praying for her and all the folks up Wilson Hollow. I love y’all.
I haven’t had a persimmon since I was a young girl. we had numerous trees on my Grandpa’s farm. I would often feed his goats the green ones just to see their reactions. Looking back, that wasn’t very nice, but they are every one I gave them.