Wild Persimmon Pudding
In 2001, Pulse of the Planet listener Carrie Hamby shared with us her family’s recipe for Persimmon Pudding - a Thanksgiving treat! Since then, many listeners have contacted us requesting the recipe. Try it and let us know what you think.
“I’m very happy to share my grandmother’s recipe with you, in hopes that it will enliven and enrich more feasts this fall. My grandmother passed away in January of 1999, and her husband - who turned 90 <in 2001> - hasn’t had any of her persimmon pudding in some time, but between my mom and me we try to keep him supplied during this time of year. As he likes to say, “That’s good eatin’!”
Here’s the recipe, with a couple of my own comments in parentheses:
Stir 1/4 tsp soda into 1 cup persimmon pulp. Add 1&1/4 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 egg. Beat well. Add 1 cup flour alternately with 1&1/4 cups milk, and 1 tbsp melted butter. Pour into greased 8×8″ pan. (I find that glass works best.) Bake at 325F for 50 minutes. Double recipe: bake 1&1/4 hours. Serve with carmel sauce.
Carmel Sauce: (The first part should be in a saucepan off the stove.) Mix thoroughly 1 cup dark brown sugar and 2 tbsp flour. Add 1 cup water. Put on heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thick. Remove from heat, stir in 2 tbsp butter and 1 tsp vanilla.
(Now, even if you have leftovers and eat it cold, the carmel sauce only has to be heated up a little to make it pour and you have a whole different kind of delicacy. I recommend trying it both ways.)”
Carrie Hamby
November 20th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
If you are checking comments, Ms. Hamby, would you please advise on what you mean by ’soda’; i.e., baking soda, liquid soda …?
Thank you.
November 21st, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Hi Vita - Associate Producer Lara Ratzlaff here. I’ll try to get in touch with Carrie, but from perusing other Persimmon Pudding recipes it looks like she does mean baking soda - it’s an ingredient in nearly every recipe I saw. Hope that helps!
November 24th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Hi there! Thanks for asking … Jim Metzner asked me to clarify, since I hadn’t seen your comment, Vita. YES, I did mean baking soda. Sorry for the confusion. Hope your puddin’ makes you and yours happy in body and spirit! Happy belated Thanksgiving.
Carrie
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Here’s another recipe you might be interested in this season. It would make a great Christmas party dish.
Pumpkin Mousse
1.5 c fresh pumpkin puree (you can use canned, but you know…)
2 cups of “Magical Mystery Blend” (MMB; see note below the recipe)
1 1/3 c cottage cheese
1/3 c sour cream
1/4 c plain yogurt
2 t unflavored gelatin
1/4 c candied ginger, chopped fine
3/4 c sugar
2 egg whites at room temp
freshly grated nutmeg
1. Place pumpkin, MMB, and yogurt in food processor or blender and process til just pureed, set aside
2. In small sauce pan, soften gelatin in 1/2 c cold water and let stand for 1 minute
3. Dissolve gelatin over low heat, stirring until completely dissolved
4. Add ginger to gelatin
5. Slowly whisk pureed mix into gelatin and combine well
6. Refrigerate 30-40 min until mix is quite thick; whisk occasionally to prevent lumps
7. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Add sugar and beat until stiff (like meringue)
8. Gently fold in egg whites into pumpkin mix and blend well
9. Transfer to serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for about 4 hours
10. Sprinkle with nutmeg - Voila! Here is your Pumpkin Mousse!
Note: The original recipe came from my mom’s new favorite cookbook, “Great Good Foods” by Julee Rosso. Mom never met a recipe she couldn’t make better, so instead of 2 1/4 cups plain yogurt, she used 1/4 cup and ditched the rest for “The Blend,” which is something she and my stepdad Thom came up with to go on just about everything sweet or savory. Basically it’s just 4 parts low-fat cottage cheese to 2 parts low-fat sour cream. She also substituted candied ginger for crystallized ginger. She said to make sure to include this info that was printed across bottom of the page in the cookbook:
Cal 161, Carb 32 g, Protein 7 g, Chol 4 mg, Fat 1 g / 6%
I asked her if the substitutions make any difference, and she said that if you use low fat everything it comes out about the same. I stop counting this kind of stuff around Halloween and start again after New Years Day. I recommend this policy: consider this your window of opportunity to focus on the important things in life!