Persimmon Bread with Pecans and Bourbon Raisins
This recipe makes 3 3x6 inch Persimmon Bread loaves.
Servings 24
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups firmly packed brown sugar (230 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup light olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup persimmon pulp 200 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 210 grams
- ¾ cup chopped pecans toasted
- ¼ cup golden raisins that have been soaked overnight in bourbon optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 6x3 inch loaf pans. Line with strips of parchment paper and grease again. If you prefer, you can just spray with flour-added baking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar and eggs until smooth. Add the oil and stir until smooth, then stir in the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- Mix in persimmon pulp, followed by the baking soda, making sure there are no lumps in the baking soda and that it is evenly dispersed. Add the flour and stir until blended, then stir in the nuts. If using raisins soaked in bourbon, add them too.
- Divide the batter among the pans filling about ⅔ full. Set pans on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350 for about an hour (start checking at 50 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
Notes
While making the biscotti recipe above, I realized halfway through the bake time that I'd left out the baking soda. The loaves tasted good, but were too dense to give as gifts. Not wanting to throw them away I cut them into slices, baked at 250 for about 45 minutes, and let cool to make biscotti. I was worried the thin slices would not dry out, but eventually they did. Time may vary in ovens. Also, they will not be completely crisp when you take them out of the oven (like most granola and biscotti), but will crisp as they cool.
Leaving out the baking soda will give you a dense and crunchy biscotti. Leaving in the baking soda (maybe you just want to experiment with one of the good loaves?) works, but the biscotti will be lighter in texture.
