persimmon bread pudding, bourbon creme anglaise

persimmon bread pudding with walnuts and raisins
kentucky bourbon creme anglaise

persimmon tree & view of cabrillo beach from alice’s home

“I’ve got persimmons coming out my ears!” After work, Sally and I went over to Alice’s to help her with her “persimmon situation.”  If we didn’t harvest the fruit, the birds surely would.

hachiya persimmons

Unlike the fuyu persimmon variety, the hachiya must be fully ripe to eat. An unripe hachiya is very tannic and has an astringent chalky taste. The fuyu, with the shape reminiscent of a tomato, can be eaten when it is still hard, like an apple. Just cut it up and enjoy.

The hachiya is another story. To tell the difference between the two at the market, remember that the fuyu is tomato-shaped and the hachiya is heart-shaped (h = heart = don’t eat when hard). So, the hachiya must be ripe, or it is really inedible. When it is ripe, the gooey flesh is a bit slippery, kind of like okra, and can be off-putting to some. But not us! We love this fruit with its more complex apricoty flavor, intense orange color, and mysterious texture. And I personally don’t mind a tiny bit of astringency, reminds me of a well-structured cabernet sauvignon…

persimmon bread pudding

Squeeze the pulp from the fruit. The slightly less jello-y pieces are OK too, as long as they are very very soft. If in doubt, taste, if  it is too tannic do not use it.

Whisk 1 1/2 c. milk with 3/4 c. brown sugar, 3 eggs, 1 t. vanilla, 1/4 t. salt. Add 1/2 c. raisins and 1/2 c. chopped walnuts. Mix in about 1 1/2 c. persimmon pulp and very very soft fruit. Add one baguette that has been torn into bite sized pieces and let the bread absorb the liquid.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan. Dot the top with butter and bake at 375° until puffed and cooked through, about 40 minutes. Let cool about 20 minutes before serving.

kentucky bourbon creme anglaise

In a medium saucepan heat 1 c. milk and 1 c. of cream together, stir occasionally and do not boil. Meanwhile, beat 5 egg yolks with 1/2 c. of sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow. Very slowly, so as not to cook the egg, add the warm milk/cream to the egg/sugar while continuing to stir.

Transfer the mixture into a clean sauce pan. Heat and stir until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, add 1 -2 T. of Kentucky Bourbon.

Ladle sauce into a shallow bowl, place warm bread pudding on top.
This was a big local & seasonal hit!

And we still have more persimmons.
Sally, Alice, and I would appreciate any persimmon recipes you can share…ASAP!