Pretty persimmons for the holidays

One of the good things about the warm weather we have had this autumn is that persimmons are plentiful and ripe to bursting, just in time for the holiday season.

You may have seen them in the local markets, or in boxes in front of homes with a “Take Some” sign; casual observation of local yards shows that there is a bumper crop this year.

Persimmons can be eaten out of hand, or the pulp can be easily incorporated into holiday sweets. But just make sure they are very ripe before you eat them; otherwise they are much too astringent to enjoy. The two varieties of persimmon that are readily available locally are the Fuyu, which is smaller, firmer when ripe and flatter on the bottom, and the Hachiya, which is larger, heart shaped and almost gelatinous when ripe.

If you find yourself with too many persimmons, Kay Baumhefner of “Come Home to Cooking” culinary school in Petaluma advises that you can skin and seed them, and then freeze the pulp for later use. But she notes “the best way is always the freshest way,” and she has provided the attached recipe for persimmon pudding using ripe Hachiya persimmons, for your holiday table.

Baumhefner is the owner of “Come Home to Cooking,” which she operates out of her home and what she calls her “casual professional kitchen.” She is a veteran chef, having been involved in the restaurant industry for four decades, most recently as the executive chef for Della Fattoria, helping the Weber family to branch out into restaurant services alongside their bakery. She and her husband have resided in Petaluma for 30 years. While she says that she has always taught cooking and technique wherever she was a chef, for the past seven years she has operated her own school, embarking on a more formal teaching career.

Her initial philosophy was to let available food drive her classes, teaching seasonal menus and recipes. She says that “because of where we live, there is so much available, and so much to draw on, which is not only tastier but more nutritionally sound.” But as her classes have evolved, she now plans to offer lessons that provide that support which is essential to a cook’s confidence.

Classes will be more than just walking through the recipes; they will teach technical skills, food prep and cooking all at the same time. She want her new classes to empower her students to learn to cook with ease, and to take advantage of the seasons. She believes that cooks should have “a pantry full of possibilities, which provides a place to start on a good meal.” She wants to enable them to better deal with “the relentless question of, ‘ What’s for dinner?’”She takes students who are just beginning, as well as those much more experienced cooks. She will be announcing a new schedule in January, with classes to start in March, and can be reached at comehometocooking.com.

Persimmon pudding recipe

You’ll need:

n 3 cups sugar

n 3 cups all-purpose flour

n 1-1/2 tablespoon baking soda

n 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

n 1-1/2 teaspoon salt

n 3 large eggs

n 1 cup milk

n 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

n 3 tablespoon melted butter

n 3 cups pureed fully ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp

n extra butter and sugar for coating the pan

n 3-quart bundt pan and a lidded pot big enough to hold it with at least a 1-inch rack or trivet inside on the bottom.

To make:

n Generously coat the inside of the bundt pan with soft butter and then sugar. Cut a piece of baking parchment and aluminum foil large enough to cover the top and extend several inches all around.

n Add almost an inch of water to the pot and bring it to the boil later before you insert the pudding.

n In a large mixing bowl stir all the dry ingredients together.

n In another bowl beat together the eggs, milk and vanilla. Add them to the dry ingredients, stirring just to mix.

n Stir in the melted butter and then the persimmon puree. Don’t over mix.

n Pour into the bundt pan.

n Cover with the parchment and then the aluminum foil; tie around with string to tightly secure.

n Without tipping, insert in the pot to rest on the rack over (not in) boiling water. Cover tightly.

n Leave the heat on high until steam starts escaping around the lid, then immediately reduce to simmer for about two hours or until the pudding has risen in the center and springs back when lightly pressed. It will be very moist but not soggy.

n Remove to a cooling rack, take off the covers and let rest 15-30 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

n Serve warm or cooled.

NOTE: You can make the pudding days in advance, unmold, then butter and sugar the cleaned bundt pan to fit back over the completely cooled pudding; cover and store in a cool room. Then later reheat in the pot on the rack over boiling water for about 20 minutes.

Kay Baumhefner recommends that the pudding be served with a Buttercream Hard Sauce, the recipe for which can be found at ComeHometoCooking.com.