Persimmon Pudding Recipe (2024)

After the third year of making this, I simplified in a major way…— Finely chop the persimmons, peels and all, in food processor (no need to puree) and put in a bowl.— In food processor, combine all remaining ingredients, except melted butter, and blend thoroughly (this is an enhanced crepe batter). Add melted butter with machine running. [Reduce sugar to a maximum of 1 cup]— Pour batter over chopped persimmons, blend and bake in buttered pan.Delicious and majorly simplified!

Can one use ripe (mushy) Hachiya persimmons in this recipe?

Just made this for the second time. My notes:-- reduce sugar by half and it's still more than sweet enough;-- no need to strain the persimmon pulp; just use it straight out of the food processor.-- it needs a larger pan than suggested.-- I spread sliced almonds over the top before baking

I don't quite believe this is actually a recipe from someone from Indiana, because Fuyu persimmons don't grow here. Indiana persimmons are small, soft, and squishy, not big and waxy. Hachiya (though no one here calls them that, they're just persimmons). I don't want to disparage this dish, but it's definitely not a recipe for persimmon pudding as you'd find it in Indiana. Here you process pulp from persimmons in a food mill (no need to strain after). After baking it's a deep brown color.

In order to get 2 cups of puree, 2 1/4 lbs fruit is WAY to much by about .6 lbs. For those of us purchasing what is in some locale an exotic fruit, the suggestion to "discard the rest of the pulp" is a huge waste. I would suggest start with 1.5 lbs, mix, measure, then add fruit as you need to make the 2 cups. That said, this is the second Thanksgiving I make this pudding and it is my French pastry chef's daughter favorite, with these changes: scant 1.5 cup sugar, no cinnamon.

Delicious, but a 2-qt dish is way too small (overflowed into oven floor). Needs at least 2.5.

I am asking this question as an Indiana native, why not use the wild persimmon pulp mentioned the the introduction? It is available from Dillman Farms, and would be authentic to the original recipe. BTW, we live in northern Maryland, and there are three persimmon trees within walking distance from our property. I have several quarts of wild persimmon pulp in my freezer.

Ripened three firm large Hachiya persimmons in a plastic bag with an apple for 4 days until very soft. Did not strain the pulp. Plenty sweet with only 1.5 cups sugar, might use less next time. Taste the persimmon pulp. If it’s very sweet, consider less sugar. Needs to cool for quite awhile for easier serving and best consistency. Really great flavor. Found out my supermarket throws out really soft Hachiya persimmons. What a waste.

Superb! Used four persimmons (or 1.5 lbs, which amounted to exactly 2 cups of purée), 1 c. sugar, 3/4 tsp sea salt, and baked in 3 qt (9x13”) pan. Served with freshly whipped heavy cream. Big hit at tonight’s dinner!Note: pudding looked a little wobbly when I pulled it out of the oven after 1 hour and 5 minutes but it was absolutely perfect—moist, soft, and just enough structural integrity to cut into pieces. Lands somewhere between pumpkin pie filling and a “Christmas pudding.”

I would think so, since the recipe calls for pureeing the Fuyus. Flavor might be a bit more bland/sweet than Fuyus, so perhaps add a small squeeze of lemon juice or some fine lemon zest for a bit of zing.

Has anybody tried freezing this? I have a large number of ripe persimmons and a small family ...

Yes, Hachiya persimmons can be used but make sure they are ripe and I suggest you use an extra one since they appear to be a bit smaller.Besides being a great surprise finish to a special meal, serve it warm with vanilla ice cream. That way you can sleep through a boring movie on TV later.Last thought; make sure you have plenty of time to do this dessert, the prep can be overwhelming the first time.

As a Hoosier (Bloomington), this will be way tastier and authentic if you use local native persimmons. Fuyu persimmons are a Japanese variety. Find some at your local farmstand! They also sell persimmon pulp at lots of local farm shops, to save you the work of pitting them (if you choose whole local persimmons, put on a good podcast because you'll be at it for a while).

I cut this recipe in half and it fits in a pie pan. Also sometimes I just use the extra persimmon as liquid and don't put in all the cream. Also, easy to convert to gluten free. It's a pretty flexible recipe.

I used wild persimmons, only 250 g sugar, added zest from one lemon, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1 tbsp bourbon, pinch of salt. Topped pudding with whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup. Delicious!

I had eight persimmons, but they were small — not sure what type they were. But I needed more of something, so I used pumpkin purée. This actually worked. Used DF’s revised, easier version and it is lovely. Th only glitch: I cooked it for an hour, and it seemed set. But no. So now, I am not sure what to do about the runny mixture — unsafe? Sure tasted wonderful. Used a wee bit more sugar — around 1.5 C — and it was fine. Didn’t taste overly sweet. Will defo make again.

Making my third one for Christmas use less sugar and Whole Earth blend to cut more. It’s absolutely delicious and cooks well in one hour for me. Each time has gotten rave reviews. I have enough of my persimmons left softening to freeze for next fall. We eat most of the persimmons and use them in salads yet this makes a phenomenal holiday or company dessert that is easy. Last year I froze my persimmons in two cup portions. Hardest thing is waiting for them to soften and not eating them.

I used 1/2 cup of sugar and it was perfect since there was the sweetness of the persimmons. We finely chopped the persimmons so you can still taste bits of it. Like everyone is saying you don’t need 5 persimmons for 2 cups. Just cut as you go. Baked for 1hr 7 mins and that was perfect!

can you make this in individual ramekins? how would I adjust cooking times? thanks

Used 5 ripe fuyu persimmons, which weighed 1 lb total, pureed them in food processor unskinned, which produced slightly more than 2 cups of pureed persimmons; I used it all. I lowered the sugar to about 1 1/3 cups (and it was still quite sweet). Followed the remainder of the directions, mostly (I added the salt and cinnamon to the flour/baking powder mixture). I baked it for about 1 hour 12 minutes in a 2.5 quart ceramic baking dish, and it filled the dish when baked. Total success-delicious!

I'm vegan, so I made this with VeganEgg, made buttermilk with a mix of oatmilk and lemon juice, and used vegan yogurt instead of heavy cream. Otherwise, I followed all of the specifications. It came out really well, and it was devoured by my teenage students as well as my colleagues.

I made two substitutions and it came out great. 1 Hachiyas were a natural for this dish. I eat a lot of fuyus and think the Hachiya flavor suits the recipe best. 2. I substituted turbinado sugar. I did not find the result too sweet. To get it adequately settled, I cooked mine for 10 minutes longer. As to serving it with vanilla ice cream, why? Persimmons are highly seasonal. Enjoy their unadulterated flavor!

How would you store this if you needed to make it a day or two ahead? Or does it need to be consumed immediately?

Used a 2.5 qt pan and this bubbled over and made a huge mess. Unsure of how to tell when the pudding is done. Looked tasty, poor recipe.

I used dried persimmons (purchased on Etsy), chopped, and added to this this the meat of ~6 very ripe large Hachiyas. Pulsed in the food processor. Cooked it in a 4 qt casserole dish, and opened the oven 3 or 4 times to mix the middle, as it cooked. At 60 mins the middle was still very jiggly, so I kept cooking, checking every 5-8 minutes, until it had the middle settled. Closer to 80 mins total. Served with ‘hard’ whipped cream that had spiced rum and eggnog in it.

Can this be reheated?

Used half the sugar. Did not strain or even puree; just used very ripe Fuyu persimmons. I would not use the peels, as one commenter suggested. I agree, these are not Indiana persimmons, but the pudding turned out just as good. One option: My aunt in Indiana stirred hers occasionally while it cooked, which led to a more pudding-like result versus a more cake-like appearance with this recipe.

Loved the flavor of this! Added ginger powder to cut through some of the egginess. Did anyone else’s pudding sink? Mine does not look uniform from the edge to the center and I filled my pan close to the top with batter! The entire center rose in the oven and then sank near the end of cooking. How do I prevent this? Thank you!

Tim O’s recommendations to do it all in food processor completely simplified the recipe! Did not need close to 2 pounds persimmons to get the 2c of pulp.

WAY too sugary: I’d reduce the sugar by half if I was to cook this again.The cook time is inadequate and the instructions negligent on pan size: 2 quarts is a bit too small, but depth is everything: It needs to be shallow or the pudding will be sopping.I’d also suggest cooking twice: once per the instructions (in a 4 quart pan that’s at least a half sheet size), then cutting smaller pieces and baking again. The best part of this dish are the carmelized corners.