Persimmon Pudding
For this recipe, use only ripe, sweet persimmons, best found in Missouri after the first frost. Missouri-grown varieties are best; Japanese varieties tend to be too watery. If you are foraging for them, the best persimmons are found on the ground and look soft and overly ripe. Be sure to peel the fruits before pureeing them, as the skin is bitter-tasting.
Ingredients
1 cup flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup seedless raisins
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup pureed persimmon pulp*
½ tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
* To puree the persimmon pulp, remove the stems and peel the persimmons. Put the peeled persimmons through a food mill to remove the seeds.
Preparation
• Grease a pudding mold that has a snap-on lid.**
• Prepare the water bath: To enable the hot water and steam to circulate completely around the mold, fit a large pan or stock pot with a wire rack. Fill the pot with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the pudding mold. Bring the water to a gentle simmer over low heat.
• Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the raisins and pecans.
• In a medium bowl, combine the persimmon pulp, baking soda, milk and vanilla and stir into the flour mixture.
• Pour the batter into the pudding mold, secure the mold's lid and place the mold lid-side up into the hot water.
• Cover the pot and steam the pudding for 1 hour or until a knife
inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out clean, keeping the
water at a gentle simmer. Add more water if necessary.
• Remove the mold from the water bath and let cool slightly.
• Unmold the pudding by inverting it onto a serving dish (or simply scoop the pudding into individual bowls for serving).
• Serve warm with hard sauce flavored with brandy.
**If you do not have a pudding mold, put the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake it at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes.
Tags : Persimmon
