The two most commonly found persimmon varieties grown in the United States are Hachiyas and Fuyus. I have a Fuyu Persimmon tree on my property in Napa. Last weekend when we drove up, I harvested the last several pounds still hanging on the tree. The persimmons have been ripe for a while, and I have used many, but decided to get the last bunch off of the tree before the first frost. I love Fuyu persimmons and eat many just peeled for a snack. I also use them in salads with goat cheese and toasted nuts with a simple balsamic vinaigrette as below.
Today I peeled and chopped all that were left to freeze. I put 4 cups in each freezer bag. I will use them in the next couple of months for either persimmon pudding, persimmon butter or just pop a few frozen pieces into my morning smoothie.
With one extra cup of chopped persimmons, I decided to make Persimmon Walnut Bread. I had never tried this before, but it is delicious!
I used my Mother’s Banana Bread recipe and just substituted persimmons for the bananas and added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Persimmon Walnut Bread
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup diced or mashed persimmons
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add the flour and baking soda, beat just until mixed. Add the persimmons, cinnamon, nutmeg and nuts and beat until well mixed. (My persimmons were quite ripe, so I used a fork to mash them before adding them to the mixture).
Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the top of the bread comes out clean. Makes 1 loaf.
