If you live in flyover country, there’s a special fall treat awaiting you. Along with the turning of leaves, persimmons are ripe and ready to harvest. If you know someone with a persimmon tree, you’re in luck. That is , if you don’t mind the chore of picking the fruit, simmering for hours, and then mashing it through a colander to produce the pulp. That requires a dedication that only persimmon lovers can understand. Fortunately, persimmon pulp is available for sale at this time of year, if only you can find a place to buy it. Typically, there are stands at fall festivals all through the country. If not, you might find it at a fancy, specialty grocery store. It’s fairly expensive, but so what? Persimmons only come around once a year. It’s time to savor spicy persimmon pudding.

savor spicy persimmon pudding for an old fashioned holiday treat — SAVOR SPICY PERSIMMON PUDDING for an old fashioned treat.

It takes a special palette to appreciate persimmon pudding, It’s one of those foods you either love or hate—there’s nothing in between. . For some, it’s a passion to be pursued at any cost—even if it’s fifty miles away. If you serve persimmon pudding, cookies, or cake at a holiday meal, be sure to have pumpkin pie and other more conventional desserts for those who don’t enjoy the unusual flavor.

I used to make only one batch of this recipe at Thanksgiving, which provided enough for those who wanted it. It’s best served warm, and covered with cream. But it’s good at room temperature and a dollop of whipped cream..

PERSIMMON PUDDING

2 cups persimmon pulp

½ cup melted butter

1 cup milk

1 cup half and half (it’s okay to use milk)

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

Mix pulp, eggs. sugar, melted butter and milk. Mix dry ingredients separately. Then combine both mixtures. Stir well. Pour into greased 9 X 13 inch pan and bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Stir several times while pudding is baking so that it won’t harden at edges of pan.

The pudding will turn dark, but that’s natural with this particular recipe. If you want a firmer, lighter product, you can find other recipes on the internet.

Memories are made with persimmon pudding around the holidays.

Persimmon Pudding is a holiday favorite here in the Midwest. Years ago, it was difficult to find persimmon pulp, unless you were lucky enough to know someone with a persimmon tree. And squeezing the persimmons to separate the skins and seeds from the fruit, then pushing all of it a through a sieve, was a chore. What a culinary triumph to serve rich, spicy persimmon pudding on Thanksgiving Day!

A culinary deight — PERSIMMON PUDDING FOR THANKSGIVING

We used to buy persimmon pulp at a little country store where they kept it in a freezer, and sold out almost the day it came in. The first time I bought the pulp, I asked the owner, an old man in bib overalls, if he had a favorite recipe. He looked at me for a moment and said, “just wait here a minute.” Whereupon he ambled to his house next door, and came back with a xerox copy of this recipe. It’s similar to what they served at the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival for years until the ladies who made it “retired.”

Persimmon pulp is now available in most upscale grocery stores. You can even order it over the internet. It’s a bit pricey compared to the good old days, but it sure beats looking for a persimmon tree and spending all day making pulp.

Persimmons are a spicy delicious fruit — It’s easy , now that you can buy ready made persimmon pulp

Not everyone likes persimmon pudding, but for those that do, it’s a rare treat, especially when served with whipped cream. There are other persimmon recipes that give you a dessert with the texture of a brownie or cake, so you might look those up on the internet if you think you would like that better.