Persimmon Pudding

Recipe from Alverta S. Hart

Adapted by Ligaya Mishan

Updated Nov. 19, 2024

Persimmon Pudding
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 40 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 40 minutes
Rating
4(664)
Comments
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Wild persimmons start to blush along the country roads of Indiana in late September, stealing the colors of sunset and weighing down their trees like Christmas balls. They are native to the landscape, unlike the Chinese and Japanese varieties cultivated in California and found in grocery stores. Foraging carries on through November, when the fruit claims a place at the Hoosier Thanksgiving table in the form of a dark gold pudding, distant kin to the sweet persimmon bread offered to early colonials by the Cherokee.

This recipe comes from Alverta S. Hart of Mitchell, Ind. This fall, the town hosted its annual Persimmon Festival and as always, the most suspenseful event was the persimmon pudding contest. Ms. Hart submitted her first pudding in 1962 as an 18-year-old bride, and re-entered every year for nearly four decades until she became a judge, then chairwoman of the event, winning on and off and collecting every color of ribbon along the way. —Ligaya Mishan

Featured in: The United States of Thanksgiving

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Ingredients

Yield:10 servings
  • 4tablespoons/56 grams butter, melted, plus more for the dish
  • 5Fuyu persimmons (about 2¼ pounds), trimmed and chopped
  • 2eggs, beaten
  • 2cups/400 grams sugar
  • 1teaspoon baking soda
  • 1cup/240 milliliters buttermilk
  • 1½cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
  • 2½teaspoons/12 grams baking powder
  • 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
  • ¼teaspoon/ 1½ grams salt
  • ½teaspoon/3 milliliters vanilla extract
  • Dash of cinnamon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

476 calories; 15 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 85 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 42 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 337 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees and butter a 2-quart baking dish. Purée persimmons in a food processor or blender until smooth. Strain pulp through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, using the back of a spoon or a spatula to push purée through. Measure out 2 cups of pulp (discard remaining pulp).

  2. Step 2

    Combine eggs, sugar and persimmon pulp in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Stir baking soda into buttermilk, then add to persimmon mixture and beat to combine.

  3. Step 3

    In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Beat flour mixture into persimmon mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the cream, beginning and ending with the flour.

  4. Step 4

    Stir in melted butter, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Transfer batter to prepared dish and bake until pudding is set, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
664 user ratings
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Comments

Tim O.

After the third year of making this, I simplified in a major way… — Finely chop the persimmons, peels and all, in food processor (no need to puree) and put in a bowl. — In food processor, combine all remaining ingredients, except melted butter, and blend thoroughly (this is an enhanced crepe batter). Add melted butter with machine running. [Reduce sugar to a maximum of 1 cup] — Pour batter over chopped persimmons, blend and bake in buttered pan. Delicious and majorly simplified!

Helen

Can one use ripe (mushy) Hachiya persimmons in this recipe?

Tim O.

Just made this for the second time. My notes: -- reduce sugar by half and it's still more than sweet enough; -- no need to strain the persimmon pulp; just use it straight out of the food processor. -- it needs a larger pan than suggested. -- I spread sliced almonds over the top before baking

Slighthound

My SIL recently found a copy of a long-lost recipe for persimmon pudding. (Which was a thing I had never heard of.) As I was making it, I was doubtful—the family recipe seemed like pancake batter zhuzhed up with cream and persimmon pulp and made no sense to me. After I stuck it in the oven, I remembered I’d saved this one in hopes of approximating it. Turns out Grandma Mabel’s recipe was a half-batch of this. This recipe must have been VERY popular in certain circles in Southern Indiana. It travelled a full 11miles to the family’s then hometown.

K

Making it over the years. It is always delicious. Persimmons are pretty sweet so I use 70% less sugar. Does anyone's end result pudding look like the picture? Mine has never.

Lee

The cake is moist and satisfying. Something seems to be missing though. Next time I make this, I think I will add a little more spice.

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Credits

Adapted from Alverta S. Hart

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