Fuyu Persimmon Bread

I’ve never had much of an opinion on Persimmons. I’ve had firm persimmons that taste like cinnamon tinged apples and squishy persimmons that taste like chalky papaya. That is until I was in Japan and had a belgian waffle with persimmon mascarpone creme and caramelized persimmon. The Japanese treasure persimmons as  a cornerstone of fall cuisine, appearing in breakfast, in drinks and even in meat sauces. When I returned to New York in the middle of October, I saw droves of persimmons in baskets outside grocery stores and at farmer’s markets, and they were cheap. I decided to educate myself on persimmon firmness and found that there are actually two types of Persimmons commonly found in the US, Fuyu and Hachiya. I learned that the source of my indifferent feelings towards persimmons was that I’d probably had an unripe Hachiya or an over ripe Fuyu. I decided to pick up two pounds of Fuyu persimmons to try my hand at using them in a dish. I should have looked for a recipe before I shopped since it turns out the softer Hachiya is better for baking. Alas, I decided to give my Fuyus a chance to shine in James Beard’s persimmon bread recipe. I based my recipe on one from David Leibovitz’ blog but changed a few things and increased the cooking time. The amount of nuts seemed a bit well….nuts, so I reduced that and took out the dried fruit aspect.  I also used a mandolin to shave paper thin slices of persimmon to sit on top and made persimmon muffins since I don’t own two loaf pans.

Persimmon Bread

Makes 1 loaf and 12 muffins

3½ cups sifted flour

1½ teaspoons salt

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2½ cups sugar

1 cup melted unsalted butter

4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

2/3 cup Jack Daniels whiskey

2 cups persimmon puree (from about 4 Fuyu persimmons)

1 whole persimmon

1 1/2 cups walnuts

Method

1. Butter 1 loaf pan and 1 muffin tin. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Sift the first 5 dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

4. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree then the nuts. Pour into muffin cups and loaf pan.

5. Using a mandoline, shave the whole persimmon into medallions and arrange in two neat rows on top of the loaf. Place one medallion on each muffin.

5. Bake for 1 hour and remove the muffin tin, cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

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