Persimmons

[Boinky]

Ok again..being new to the south, i found a couple of heavily fruited persimmon tree's on my neighbors huge farm while out trail riding today with the other neighbor who informed me what they were. i tried one and it was pretty good... What do you do with them?

 

[CyndiM]

My mother loved persimmons and she used to make desserts with them when I was a child. I'll look in her recipe box and see if I can find anything.

She also loved to just eat them as fruit. I planted two of them here when she moved back here but they just started to bare fruit a couple of years ago.

The fruit has to go through a freeze to ripen and be edible otherwise it is very bitter. UMMM you live in the south so I don't know how that statement will work for you! LOL I was always told they had to freeze to ripen!

 

[Miniv]

My mother used to make a Persimmon pudding.......It was the only way I ever liked them.

 

[crponies]

Do you have the big apple size persimmons or the crab apple size ones? My college roommate from North Carolina was surprised to hear that there were big ones as she was used to the little ones. We have the bigger ones here in CA. Anyhow, my family eats them plain like you did today or we make them into persimmon cookies. Let me know if you'd like the recipe.

 

[Hosscrazy]

I slice them and eat them plain - I LOVE persimmons! I'll bet you could make preserves out of them, don't you think?

Liz R.

 

[sdmini]

No clue, had to open up this thread just to see what they were.

 

[Boinky]

They are the little crab apple sized ones. We did have a frost aain last night so i'm guessing they might be ripe today. If not i did some research online lst night and it said to freeze them in a freezer for 24 hours then put them in room temperature and that gets rid f the tannins.. I may go persimmon picking today!! not quite sure how i'm going to REACH them ... might have to do it like i did the other day on horseback. i was on a smaller horse than my normal 17hh so i probably could reach A LOT on him!! They were really good..they tasted like Mango's to me!

Also anyone with recipee's send them my way! i'm willing to try different things! lol

 

[AppyLover2]

I've never known anyone who did anything except eat a few. I've always thought they're so small and so seedy it would take a bushel of them to do anything. If you do something with them let us know how it turned out.

 

[Laura]

I've never eaten them, but our vet treats many equine persimmon impactions every year and they always lose a few :-( I do have a few trees on the edge of the hayfield, we'll check for ripe fruit today.

 

[ponypassion]

Ok again..being new to the south, i found a couple of heavily fruited persimmon tree's on my neighbors huge farm while out trail riding today with the other neighbor who informed me what they were. i tried one and it was pretty good... What do you do with them?

My Grandmother made the BEST cookies you ever tasted. Now I wish I had learned from her.

Judy

 

[Pepipony]

Welllllll Hubby and I used to use them as ammo LOL There were a few trees where we used to ride and well, you can guess the rest LOL Now, I have a few trees but the horses eat the fruit before they are ripe. And dont even ask me how they can!! EEEewwwwwww!!!! They make a lemon seem sweet!

 

[crponies]

Here is my family's persimmon cookie recipe:

Persimmon Cookies

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. each cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup nuts

1 cup raisins

1 cup persimmon pulp

1 egg

Cream sugar and shortening. Sift dry ingredients. Combine persimmon pulp and egg and add alternately with dry ingredients to sugar and shortening. Add nuts and raisins. Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 15 to 18 minutes at 375.

This is another one that my mom had used (which is almost the same now that I look at it):

PERSIMMON BARS: 1 cup of persimmon pulp, 1 tsp. soda (mix in pulp), 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour, 1 egg, 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla (optional). Mix shortening and sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the nuts and raisins, add them last. Drop on greased sheet or bake in loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes for cookies and a little longer for loaf. Bake until brown.

 

[Boinky]

Thanks i'll have to try those. I went and picked some today but they really still aren't ripe only a few. I'm going to put them in the freezer to speed up the ripening. I could only reach abut 2 big mcdonalds cups worth of them.. gonna have to find another way to get up higher..LOL They are SOO yummy...

the research i did last night online said that they are really very good and just like a peice of candy when dehydrated..might try that too!

 

[CHARLOTTE & JOHN]

I would definitely go with the persimmon pudding. You can't beat it. Yum Yum!!

My parent grew up in southern Indiana in Lawrence county. Mitchell which is in Lawrence county is the home to the persimmon festival every year. They always have a contest for the best persimmon pudding recipe.

I was always taught that you never pick the persimmons off of the tree. They are not ready until they fall off of the tree, but they do not have to go through a frost first.

The worst part about working with the persimmons is that you have to run them through a colander to get the pulp and it takes about 2 cups of pulp to make a pudding. It takes quite a few persimmons to make 2 cups of pulp. Then you have all the skins and seeds to get rid of. The pudding is a firm pudding that can be cut into squares. It is then topped with whipped cream. It is pretty messy but worth the effort.

Here is a link to a website that has several persimmon pudding recipes.

http://www.persimmonpudding.com/recipes/puddings.html