Holiday Pie Baking....or not

This is the first holiday season that I did not bake at least one pie.....for some reason the pie spirit did not call on me, but let me say, I did dig up a great persimmon pudding (more cake like than pudding) recipe from Gramma Kirk, well it was to die for.....


Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and allspice:

• 1 1/2 C all purpose flour ( I use unbleached white)

• 1 1/2 t baking soda

• 1/2 t cinnamon ( I do fudge a bit and add extra for the cinnamon, cloves and allspice)

• 1/4 t each: salt, cloves, ginger and allspice

Set aside to be added later to the wet ingredients

Now, in a large bowl, whisk together:

• 1 1/2 cups pureed persimmon pulp (ok it says from 3 ripe persimmons, mine were very small, it ended up being 2 cups and worked great, I just scrape the pulp out with a spoon or dull knife) remember this fruit must be on the verge of "way too ripe" to be edible.

• 1 C of Sugar

• 1/2 C melted unsalted butter ( I have used salted on occasion)

Now whisk in

• 2 eggs - room temprature

• 3 T brandy

• 2 t vanilla extract

• 2 t lemon juice

Slowly add dry ingredients, stir "just to blend", that means do not beat it to death !!!

Now add: 1/2 cup raisin, I like the golden ones, but regular will work

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, can be left out, but really adds to the pudding !

Now I line two bread bans with parchment paper (butter pan lightly first to make the paper stick) or generously butter a 2-quart pudding mold ( since I don't even know what this would look like, I use the bread pans)

Pour the batter into the pans evenly, I gently bang (ok that is a contradiction in terms, but even so, do it) the pan on the counter to even out the batter and burst any air bubbles. I then get my large glass-baking dish, 9x13 or so, set the bread pans in it, a little space in between, then carefully add heated water to the glass-baking dish to about 1 inch from top of glass dish. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. The point is to steam the pudding.

• The recipe did not indicate an oven temperature, I used 350 F for about 75 min. It does say "cover and steam for 1 1/2 hours adjusting heat to maintain a steady simmer. I checked it at 60 min, but it was not even close to being done.

• After removing from the oven, let pudding rest in "mold" 5 min ( I let it sit about an hour, with the parchment paper lining, it is easy to lift out)

This is traditionally served with Bourbon Hard Sauce, so it says, although we just eat it, sometimes with whipped cream.

Good luck, I have made this for years with many different recipes, I think it came out best this year.