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Persimmons put seasonal twist on California favorite

Recipe: Persimmon date-walnut tea bread uses super-ripe fruit

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 29, 2024

This tea bread uses about four very ripe persimmons, of either variety. Debbie Arrington

Date-walnut tea bread is a California-grown favorite representing both ends of the state. Our dates come from Indio; walnuts represent Sacramento Valley.

Persimmons – super-ripe like sacks of jelly – give date-nut tea bread a seasonal twist and fruity moistness. Plus the bright orange fruit adds some extra antioxidants, another bonus.

After harvesting a prolific Fuyu persimmon crop that’s finally at that jelly-soft stage, I appreciate recipes that use several fruit. (We can eat only so many cookies.) This tea bread recipe takes about four persimmons per large loaf.

Super-ripe Hachiya persimmons (the pointy kind) also can be used in this recipe.

Persimmon date-walnut tea bread

Makes 1 large loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup ripe persimmon pulp, mashed

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons cognac or brandy (optional)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground mace

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Instructions:

Prepare a 9-by-5-by-3-inch baking pan; lightly grease and line with parchment paper, if desired. Set aside.

Loaf of tea bread in pan — Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together mashed persimmon pulp and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until well blended. With an electric mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time.

Add persimmon pulp to butter-sugar mixture; blend until smooth. Stir in cognac, if desired.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and mace. Add flour mixture by thirds to persimmon mixture, stirring after each addition. Fold in chopped dates and walnuts.

Transfer batter into the prepared pan and smooth to even. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 80 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Check for doneness after 70 minutes.

Let cool in the pan at least 10 minutes before removing. Slicing is easier if the loaf is fully cool.

Store in the refrigerator.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes persimmons dates walnuts. baking quick bread breakfast side dish produce management backyard produce farmers markets Sacramento gardening orchard fruit

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Garden checklist for week of May 10

Take it easy during that high heat – then get to work! Your garden is calling.

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

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