Persimmon Pudding - It's a Hoosier Thing!

One of our nephews texted me a couple of years ago asking for the recipe for "permission pudding."  I'm sure autocorrect caused that, but I got a big laugh out it!

If you're from the midwest, you've probably heard about persimmon pudding, even if you haven't ever eaten it.  It's a Hoosier thing, like sugar cream pie.  One of those regional things that natives take for granted and incomers need to learn about!

Persimmon pudding is "pudding" in the British sense, where "pudding" means "dessert."  Instead of a creamy custard-like dessert, it's more like a super-moist cake.

Mitchell, a small town in southern Indiana, puts on a persimmon festival in late September.   It's also home to Spring Mill State Park, and persimmon pudding is always on the menu at the Spring Mill Inn dining room.  The park is also home to a pioneer village, and at the beginning of the path to the village from the parking lot is a stand of persimmon trees.

Persimmon trees don't grow very tall.  In the late summer and fall, you'll find the 1 1/2-inch round, orange-y fruits hanging on the tree, but don't pick them!  Until they fall from the tree, they're super sour and will pucker up your mouth and shrivel your entire body (not really, but it will feel that way if you eat them)!  After the first hard frost, they'll fall, and at that point they are soft, sticky, and sweet, ready to be gathered and processed into pulp.

Those without a source of home-processed persimmon pulp can find it frozen at farm stands and markets.  We're lucky - another of our nephews has persimmon trees in his yard and he brings frozen pulp at Thanksgiving.

Here's the recipe I got about 30 years ago from a friend of my parents.  There are plenty more recipes online, some more like regular cake, some wetter.  This is one of the moderately wet types, but by no means is it the wettest I've had.

Persimmon Pudding

1 c persimmon pulp

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 c milk

2 T melted butter

1/2 t vanilla

3/4 c sugar

1 c flour

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray an 8" x 8" baking pan.  Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl.  Add the sugar and mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the dry ingredients, then add to the wet mixture and mix well.  Pour into the baking pan.  Bake 1 hour.  The "pudding" will be VERY moist.  Serve warm with whipped cream.  Refrigerate to store.