Fall has always been my favorite time of year because of the splashes of color outside our Hoosier home. Vibrant orange, yellow and deep red leaves adorn the trees, and that signals one important event that takes place in Lawrence County, Indiana, every single fall—The Persimmon Festival.
The Persimmon Festival is the best of “food, folks and fun” but most importantly, it’s the place where you can get the world’s best persimmon pudding. Now, if you’re not from the Midwest, you might not have ever heard of this delicious dessert, so let me fill you in—it’s yummy!
I wasn’t aware that persimmon pudding was a Midwestern best-kept secret until we moved to Texas for a 10-year stint, and I wasn’t able to buy any persimmon pulp. In fact, when I inquired about persimmons, my co-worker said, “Oh yeah, persimmons. We used to feed them to the hogs on our farm.”
Not exactly a helpful response.
I used to crave persimmon pudding so much that I’d have my mother-in-law ship me frozen persimmon pulp so I could make my favorite pudding in my Texas kitchen, miles away from my beloved Hoosier roots.
But now that we’ve moved back to Indiana, I am once again in persimmon pudding paradise, so I thought I’d share my mother-in-law’s pudding recipe with you. Trust me; you’re going to love it. And, no, I’m not shipping you any of my precious persimmon pulp. You’ll simply have to stop by for a piece…I just took my first one of the season out of the oven.
Here’s the recipe:
Practically Perfect Persimmon Pudding
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 teaspoon Allspice
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of persimmon pulp
5 Tablespoons of butter
Cream butter, sugar and eggs together. Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter/sugar mixture a little at a time until blended. Grease a 9-by-13 pan and pour in the persimmon pudding mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until the sides pull away from the glass pan.
The recipe says to bake for 50 minutes but I never cook it more than 30 minutes. (My oven must be supersonic.) Let your persimmon pudding cool and cover with plastic wrap. Lastly, place in fridge to chill. We like it served cold with whipped topping (Cool Whip). Enjoy!
