A Passion for Wild Persimmons

I first tasted Missouri persimmons in the form of an exquisite flan-like pudding.  It’s best to gather wild persimmons after autumn frosts have dulled the fruit’s natural shine. This September, I began gathering persimmons when nighttime  temperatures dropped into the upper 40s and persimmon fruit could be found on the ground at the base of our tree.  After I had amassed a bowl of the fruit, I got out my mill (chinois) and Beech wood pestle (pilon) for separating the pulp from the fruit’s seeds and skin.  Awhile later,  I'd extracted two cups of sweet persimmon pulp—enough for the recipe I had in mind.  Variations on persimmon pudding recipes reveal much about this fruit native to America and its long culinary history. I use the recipe from my venerable “Joy of Cooking” cookbook that is also Boone Countian Marjo Price’s favorite.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 Cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsps. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. ginger

• 1/2  tsp. nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 2 Cups of  persimmon pulp

• 1-1/4 C sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1 stick melted butter

• 1-1/2 Cups rich milk

Directions:  
In one bowl, combine 1-1/2 Cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsps. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ginger, 1/2  tsp. nutmeg,  1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. baking powder.  In another bowl, beat together 2 Cups of  persimmon pulp, 1 1/4 C sugar, 3 eggs, 1 stick melted butter,  and 1 1/2 Cups rich milk. Blend sifted dry ingredients into the wet mixture.  Pour into a well-greased 9x9 pan.  Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.  Don’t worry if it falls; it’s better that way.  

Don’t worry if it falls; it’s better that way.  Serve warm or cold with local Giofre Honey Vanilla ice cream or top with whipped cream. Martha Stewart recommends adding a generous touch of brandy as well, just like George and Martha Washington did at Mount Vernon.

Cy Littlebee’s Guide to Cooking Fish and Game (1974) includes six pages of persimmon recipes.  A quarter of a century ago, Littlebee pointed out that “a lot of Missouri folks hasn’t et persimmons, or know what they look like.  Yet all around, persimmons is Missouri’s most-relished wild fruit.”  Amen to that, I say.  Served in a pudding, wild persimmons are uncommonly delicious—a nearly forgotten culinary treasure worth rediscovering.