Bourbon Persimmon Bread

Bourbon Persimmon Bread

Recipe At-A-Glance

Never worked with persimmons before? Try out this dense and delicious persimmon bread that is a perfect fall treat.

Ready in 55 minutes

I love free food.

I don’t mean the kind like the free hot dogs they were serving at a festival we went to this past weekend (the line went around the block). No, I’m talking about foraged food. There is something really awesome about being able to gather up food that is growing natively around where you live. It feels “right”. Like that’s the food I’m supposed to be eating. I love growing my own food, but the fact that there are plants that grow on-their-own, with no intervention from us, and produce food makes me so incredibly happy. There isn’t much better than a maintenance-free food sourceโ€”it’s easier than going to the grocery store.

We’re very lucky to live where we live and have quite a few native foods that grow not only in our area, but on our property. We have a massive thicket of wild black raspberries and wild blackberries. Chanterelle and morel mushrooms grow wild in the woods on our land. We have tons of black walnuts and hickory trees. And my favorite of all, we have a nice collection of wild persimmon trees.

Persimmons

If you’ve never had a persimmon before, they have the most unique flavor that is like the sweetest clementine you’ve ever had mixed with a perfectly ripe and juicy peach. It’s absolute heaven. I’m always amazed that persimmons are so often on the back burner. I’m sure there are many of you that have never seen a persimmon, let alone eaten one. That’s such a shame!

If your persimmon experience is limited, let me give you a quick persimmon primer. There are generally two types of persimmonsโ€”one is very soft and mushy and the other is more hard like an apple (and used like one)โ€”this recipe uses the pulp from the soft ones. Be warned, soft persimmons are astringent, meaning if they are even the slightest bit unripe, you’ll end up with your face contorted into one heck of a pucker when you bite into it. We have American Persimmons (also called an Eastern Persimmon) growing on our property, and they are the astringent variety. In fact, growing up around here, it’s a pretty common prank to try and get a kid to bite into an unripe persimmon. My older brother got me to do it once, right after he got me to smell his shoes because he told me they smelled like strawberries. I was a naive kid.

Persimmons

If you’re picking up persimmons in the store for this recipe, more than likely, you’ll be looking for Hachiya Persimmons. They are heart-shaped, and a bit bigger than the fruit from the American Persimmon tree, but they’re widely available around the world. But just like the ones that grow around here, don’t you dare use it until it’s ripe. As in, it should be so soft and mushy that it feels like it’s rotting. We actually don’t even pick persimmons from the tree, because that would mean they aren’t completely ripe. We wait until the persimmons fall to the ground and collect them before the turtles and birds get to them. The best way I can explain how to know when an astringent persimmon is ready to eat is to think of a zip-top bag full of pudding. Does the persimmon feel like that? Then it’s ready! If it’s so soft and gooey that it feels like you have to handle it gently to avoid it exploding, it’s time to process.

The best way to use soft persimmons is to extract the pulp. Persimmon pulp is a very similar texture to jam. In fact, I always see people talking about making persimmon jam, and it makes me laugh, because that sounds like a lot of work considering I happily spread raw persimmon pulp on my biscuits all the time. No sugar needed!

Persimmon Pulp

Around this time of year in our area, you’ll see signs pop up in front of many farm houses advertising persimmon pulp for sale, so if you’re lucky enough to find someone to process your pulp for you, that’ll save you some time. If you aren’t that lucky, to make persimmon pulp with a Hachiya persimmon, just wait until it’s ripe, then slice in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. You can run it through a sieve if you want it to be super smooth, but usually you don’t have to worry about that. American persimmons are a bit different because they are much smaller and have much larger seeds, meaning the best way to process them (at least on a small scale) is to mash themโ€”peels, seeds, pulp, all of itโ€”through a sieve until you have the most dreamy, smooth, bright orange persimmon pulp. I then freeze it flat in two cup increments in a freezer bag.

Oh, and then I fish out some of the seeds, clean them off, and slice them in half to see what kind of winter we’re going to have (we saw knives, by the way).

Bourbon Persimmon Bread

Persimmon pulp is most frequently used in baking. You’ll see a lot of persimmon bread, pudding, and cookie recipes out there. If you’ve ever baked with pumpkin pulp or applesauce, it’s the same idea with persimmon. It adds sweetness and moisture to baked goods, plus a light, fruity taste that is really remarkable. I also love use persimmon pulp as a mix in for oatmeal or yogurt. Yum!

This persimmon bread recipe is one of my favorite things I’ve made this year. I’m not much of a bourbon drinker, but man, I do love me some bourbon as an ingredient in a dessert. I know pumpkin is the “official” flavor of fall, but I think the combination of bourbon and persimmon tastes exactly like what fall should taste like. This persimmon bread is flavorful, moist, and denseโ€”it’s heavy in the best way possible. It’s pretty much perfect to nibbling on while you sip a toasty mug of coffee in the morning.

Bourbon Persimmon Bread

As far as mix-ins go, I like to keep it simple and just toss in a few handfuls of chopped walnutsโ€”even better if they’re black walnuts that we gathered from the front of our property. You can go as wild as you’d like with other goodies. Raisins, cranberries, pecans, and even chocolate chips would all be good to toss in. You can also leave the bread naked and just let the bourbon and persimmon stand on their own.

Enjoy!

Bourbon Persimmon Bread

Bourbon Persimmon Bread

Yield: 2 loaves
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Never worked with persimmons before? Try out this dense and delicious persimmon bread that is a perfect fall treat.Adapted fromย David Lebovitz.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups persimmon pulp
  • 4 eggs
  • 2/3 cup bourbon
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups chopped walnuts

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line two 8" x 4" loaf pans with parchment paper, set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the persimmon pulp, eggs, bourbon, butter, vanilla, and sugar. Mix on low until well-combined.
  3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and flours. Add in the flour mixture to the persimmon mixture in three additions—letting mix completely before moving onto the next addition.
  4. Fold in the walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the bread is dark brown, and the top feels solid (not jiggly) when pressed on. Let cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 357Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 320mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 3gSugar: 23gProtein: 6g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

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17 Comments

  1. Iโ€™ve been making this recipe for years and itโ€™s always been a favorite. We donโ€™t like bourbon though, so I substitute rum or spiced rum. And one cup of the granulated sugar for brown sugar.
    Do you happen to have a cookie version for persimmons?

    1. Hi Connie! We’re so glad you love the persimmon bread recipe! Thanks for telling us the swaps that have worked for you. That’s super helpful for other folks who want to give the recipe a try! We don’t have a recipe for persimmon cookies, though that sounds like a delicious idea! The other recipes we have using persimmons are a smoothie and a salad. I’ve linked to them here, but you can also easily find them in the search by typing in persimmon. All three recipes (the bread, smoothie, and salad) should come up!

  2. The consistency of this bread was perfection, however the entire family agreed the bourbon overpowered the taste of the persimmons. Next time I will cut the amount of bourbon in half.

  3. Love your description for how to tell when they’re ripe “A Ziplock bag full of pudding!” This recipe looks to die for! So beautiful and sounds just amazing! Love it!

  4. Love the recipe. I added a touch more vanilla. I substituted flaxseed and extra liquid from the persimmon for 1 egg and 1/2 cup of the butter. Split nuts to half walnut half hazelnut. Cut out 1/2 a cup of sugar and used tablespoon of local pine honey. Used 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour for 1/2 cup of the flour, but used all the rest white flour (didn’t have whole wheat). Excellent! Neighbors smelled it. Half was gone before the family got to try. Rest took about 3 minutes to disappear.