What Is Persimmon pulp and How Can I Use It?

Persimmon pulp is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 21 recipes to get you started.

What is persimmon pulp?

Persimmon pulp is the smooth, pudding-soft puree scooped from a fully ripe persimmon. It is the form most baking recipes call for, because the raw fruit only gives up its honeyed flavor once it has gone almost jelly-soft inside.

This matters more than with most fruit. An underripe persimmon, especially the acorn-shaped Hachiya, is mouth-puckeringly astringent, so the pulp must come from fruit that is truly ripe.

Get that right and you have a deeply sweet, custard-like base for puddings and quick breads.

How to Make and Use the Pulp

Start with the right fruit at the right stage. Hachiya persimmons, the tall pointed kind, are the baking persimmon: let them ripen on the counter until the skin is translucent and the flesh feels like a water balloon.

Squat, tomato-shaped Fuyu persimmons stay firm and crisp and are eaten like an apple, so they are the wrong choice for pulp.

To make pulp, cut the soft persimmon in half and scoop the flesh from the skin with a spoon, leaving the calyx and any seeds behind. Press it through a sieve or pulse it in a blender for a smooth puree.

The pulp goes almost entirely into sweet baking. It carries old-fashioned classics like Indiana Persimmon Bread and Mrs. Regan's Persimmon Pudding, where it gives a moist, dense crumb and a flavor somewhere between date and apricot.

It is the soul of soft drop cookies too, as in Persimmon Cookies with Allspice & Nutmeg and the long-loved Low-Fat Persimmon Cookies.

A classic trick: stir a pinch of baking soda into the fresh pulp before adding it to a batter. The pulp thickens and turns a darker amber almost at once, which mellows any lingering edge while reacting with the leavening.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Persimmon pulp loves warm baking spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and ginger all flatter its mellow sweetness, which is why Breakfast Honey Persimmon Muffins and most persimmon cookies lean on a spice-cabinet mix. Walnuts, raisins, and citrus zest are natural partners.

The number one mistake is using underripe fruit. If the pulp tastes chalky or makes your mouth pucker, the persimmons were not ready, and no amount of sugar fixes it. Wait for jelly-soft fruit, full stop.

The second mistake is using a Fuyu where the recipe means Hachiya. A firm Fuyu will not break down into smooth pulp and lacks the deep flavor baking needs.

One quirk to expect: persimmon pulp reacts with leavening in a way that can make batters set up thick and gummy if they sit. Bake persimmon batters soon after mixing rather than letting them rest.

Substitutes

There is no clean swap, but the goal is a sweet, soft, mild fruit puree. Unsweetened applesauce comes closest for moisture and texture, though it lacks the honeyed depth, so add a little extra spice.

Mashed very ripe banana works in quick breads and muffins and brings its own sweetness, but it pushes a banana flavor into the result.

Cooked, pureed pumpkin or butternut squash matches the color and silkiness and suits spiced bakes, while pureed mango echoes the tropical, apricot-like note.

For cookies that depend on persimmon's specific character, accept that a substitute changes the cookie. It will still be good, just not the same.

Buying and Storing

Buy Hachiya persimmons firm in early to mid fall and ripen them at home, since stores rarely sell them at peak softness.

Speed ripening by setting them in a paper bag with an apple or banana, which gives off ethylene gas. They can take several days to a week to go fully soft.

Ripe fruit is fragile and bruises easily. Once a Hachiya is jelly-soft, refrigerate it and use it within a day or two, or scoop the pulp right away.

Pulp freezes beautifully, which is how most cooks bank a fall glut for holiday baking. Pack it in measured amounts, a cup or two per container, with the air pressed out, and it keeps about a year in the freezer.

A spoonful of lemon juice stirred in helps it hold color. Thaw in the fridge and stir before using.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Food group: Persimmon pulp is a member of the Fruits and Fruit Juices US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

柿浆

British (UK) term

Persimmon pulp

en français

pâte kaki

en español

pulpa de caqui

How much does persimmon pulp weigh?

Related

Fruits and Fruit Juices

Recipes using persimmon pulp

There are 21 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Randy's Christmas Persimmon Cake

Christmas persimmon cake with ripe Hachiya pulp, raisins, dates, nuts, and warm holiday spices. A spiced loaf cake that bakes long and slow for a moist, fruitcake-style holiday gift.

Breakfast Honey Persimmon Muffins

Persimmon muffins sweetened with honey and spiced with cinnamon, mace, allspice, and clove. Soft, autumn-fragrant breakfast muffins that bake in 15 minutes.

Persimmon Cookies with Cloves & Cinnamon

Soft persimmon cookies with warming cloves and cinnamon, packed with raisins and nuts. Old-fashioned fall harvest treat.

Persimmon Cookies with Allspice & Nutmeg

Soft persimmon cookies spiced with allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon, loaded with dates and walnuts. Fall harvest baking at its finest.

Persimmon Orange Delights

Persimmon orange cookies made with persimmon pulp, orange juice, orange zest, warm spices, nuts, and raisins. Bake as drop cookies or cut into brownie-style bar squares.

Randy Pollak's Persimmon Salad

Randy Pollak's persimmon salad is a molded gelatin salad with orange Jello, hot grapefruit juice, and strained persimmon pulp. A vintage fruit salad served on lettuce with cottage cheese.

Persimmon Cookies2

Soft, cakey persimmon cookies made with ripe persimmon pulp, warm cinnamon, plump raisins and crunchy nuts. An old-fashioned drop cookie and a great way to use up overripe persimmons in autumn.

Indiana Persimmon Almond Pudding Cake

Indiana persimmon pudding cake with ground almonds and buttermilk baked in a tube pan. Dense, moist, and warmly spiced with native persimmon pulp.

Ginger & Persimmon Bread (Breakfast)

A fresh take on the traditional banana bread utilizing the widely-available persimmon – the national fruit of Japan. Persimmons are rich in vitamins A and C, and contain high amounts of manganese, a co-factor for the enzyme superoxide dismutase, for healthy mucous membranes and skin, as well as a known protectant against lung and mouth cancers. They are also an excellent source of fibre and B-complex vitamins.

Persimmon Cream Pie

Persimmon cream pie with a custard of egg yolks, cream, and ripe persimmon pulp, crowned with a sticky pecan praline crumble. The fruit must be jelly-soft for the right honeyed flavor.

Persimmon Cookies:

Persimmon cookies loaded with 2 cups of fresh persimmon pulp, raisins, chopped nuts, and warm spices. A soft, cake-like drop cookie that puts fall's most underused fruit to work.

Almond Persimmon Pudding

Steamed persimmon pudding with cinnamon spice, raisins, and chopped almonds. Dense, moist loaf baked in a water bath and served warm with hard sauce.

Mrs. Jost's Persimmon Cookies

Soft persimmon cookies spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves, loaded with walnuts and raisins. A nostalgic fall baking recipe that puts ripe persimmon pulp to its best use.

Persimmon, Walnut, & Coconut Cookies

Persimmon walnut coconut cookies fold ripe persimmon pulp into a soft, cake-like dough with toasted walnuts, sweet coconut, cinnamon, and allspice. A late-fall cookie when persimmons hit the markets.

Whole Wheat Persimmon Muffins

Whole wheat persimmon muffins spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, packed with chopped walnuts and raisins. The persimmon pulp keeps them naturally moist and tender, perfect for fall breakfasts when ripe persimmons hit the market.

Persimmon Cake

Old-fashioned persimmon cake made with ripe persimmon pulp, shortening, eggs, and a simple flour-and-leavening base. A vintage autumn bake from the Hoosier and Appalachian traditions.

Mrs. Regan's Persimmon Pudding

Steamed persimmon pudding with brandy, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg, flambed at the table and served with whipped cream. An old-fashioned holiday dessert with spectacular presentation.

Indiana Persimmon Bread

Indiana persimmon bread bakes ripe persimmon pulp with brandied raisins, walnuts, and warm spices into moist loaves. Midwestern fall classic with a boozy twist.

Persimmon, Raisin, & Walnut Cookies

Soft persimmon cookies studded with whiskey-soaked raisins and chopped walnuts, spiced with clove and nutmeg. A late-fall holiday cookie that uses ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp.

Low-Fat Persimmon Cookies

These healthy and scrumptious cookies are made with persimmon pulp, applesauce and chopped almonds.

All 21 recipes