Recipe courtesy of Ellen Wright

Persimmon Pudding with Hard Sauce

  • Yield: Serves 10 to 12
An old-fashioned steamed pudding may not be your traditional Thanksgiving Day dessert, but it is a tradition on our Thanksgiving table. You will need a pudding mold and persimmons, a beautiful orange fruit that looks like an apple. The persimmons will need to be quite soft, almost overripe to the touch. Persimmons taste like a cross between a peach and an apricot, but they are a little tart. The pudding should be served slightly warm, which makes the hard sauce — one of the best tastes — melt.
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Ingredients

For the pudding:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the pudding mold

1 cup sugar

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup persimmon pulp (from 2 to 3 ripe persimmons, peeled and seeded)

3 teaspoons brandy

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

2 teaspoons baking soda mixed with 2 teaspoons warm water

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup golden raisins

For the hard sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon brandy

Directions

  1. To make the pudding, in a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with the persimmon pulp, brandy, eggs, and baking soda mixture. Stir in the vanilla, spices, walnuts, and raisins and mix on low until the butter comes together, about 5 minutes.
  2. Butter the top and bottom of a 2-quart pudding mold with a lid. Spoon in the mixture. Put the buttered lid on tightly and lock into place. Put the mold in a bigger pot filled with water to come halfway up the side of the mold; cover the pot. It is necessary to have a well-buttered mold and enough water for ample steam for this pudding to come out right. Bring the water to a simmer and let simmer over medium-low heat for about 2 hours. Make sure the water doesn't evaporate; add more hot water if it does. The pudding should be checked with a cake tester. When the tester comes out clean, the pudding is done. Take the mold out of the water and unmold when cool, 1 to 2 hours.
  3. While the pudding is steaming, prepare the hard sauce. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the brandy. Chille at least 1 hour. Serve with the warm pudding.

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SpaceCardinal

I have been making persimmon pudding for many years now at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. When my sons were teenagers, they told me not to bother every making pumpkin pie again. So I didn't. Someone will always bring a pumpkin pie to the event. This is an unusual, rich, wonderful dessert. Now my sons are grown men and have their own family traditions, but I am always expected to bring the persimmon pudding! I use Meyers dark rum in the pudding and in the hard sauce. Yikes. Hooray!

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