Stale brioche, a pot of persimmon puree cooked down with lemon, and a custard built on melted white chocolate: persimmon bread pudding is the dessert I make every December, and it exists entirely because a neighbor kept leaving bags of fruit on my step.
Persimmons arrive all at once and then they are gone, which is why so few people have a reliable recipe for them. They also carry a reputation for being difficult, and that reputation belongs to exactly one variety in one state of ripeness. Get the right persimmon and this is a forgiving, deeply spiced pudding that goes into the oven in twenty minutes and comes out looking like something that took all afternoon.
- Uses up a glut of ripe fruit and a loaf of brioche that has gone hard
- Twenty minutes of work, then thirty five minutes in the oven
- White chocolate melts into the milk, so there is no separate sauce to make
- Assembles a full day ahead and bakes straight from the refrigerator
- Serves eight from one shallow dish, which suits a holiday table
- Warm spice and bright citrus, so it never tastes as heavy as it looks
Almost everything that goes wrong with persimmon bread pudding happens at the fruit bowl rather than at the oven, so that is where this starts.
- Fuyu or Hachiya: Which Persimmon to Use
- What Does Persimmon Pudding Taste Like?
- Ingredient Notes
- How To Make Persimmon Bread Pudding
- How To Tell When Persimmon Bread Pudding Is Done
- Common Bread Pudding Mistakes
- Make It Ahead
- Storing Persimmon Bread Pudding
- Variations and Substitutions
- What to Serve with Persimmon Bread Pudding
- Persimmon Bread Pudding FAQ
Fuyu or Hachiya: Which Persimmon to Use
Two varieties reach American markets and they behave nothing alike, and only one of them makes good persimmon bread pudding without extra work. Fuyu is squat and tomato-shaped, and you eat it firm, like an apple. Hachiya is pointed and acorn-shaped, and it is inedible until it has collapsed into a bag of jelly.
The difference is tannin. Illinois Extension’s guide to choosing and eating persimmons explains that Hachiya is notably tart until fully ripe, at which point the tannins drop away and the flesh turns sweet and juicy, while a Fuyu can be eaten before it ripens because it is far less astringent to begin with.
This persimmon bread pudding is built on Fuyu, which is the unusual choice and a deliberate one. Fuyu flesh holds its shape and its color, so it can be mashed and simmered briefly with sugar and lemon into a bright orange puree without turning to slime. A Hachiya works too, but skip the simmering and use the pulp raw, because it is already soft enough.
If you bite a piece and your tongue goes furry and dry, that is tannin and the fruit is not ready. Leave it on the counter with an apple for two days.
At the market, look past the color. Both varieties turn deep orange long before they are sweet, so judge a Fuyu by weight and a firm, unbruised shoulder, and judge a Hachiya only by how soft it feels through the skin.
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What Does Persimmon Pudding Taste Like?
Somewhere between a very ripe apricot, a date and a firm mango, with a honeyed edge that reads almost like brown sugar. It is sweeter than pumpkin and much less vegetal, and it carries cinnamon and nutmeg the same way pumpkin does.
Baked into custard the flavor turns rounder and slightly caramelized. The white chocolate pushes it toward butterscotch without making the whole thing cloying, because the lemon in the puree cuts straight back through it.
Texture is the other surprise. Persimmon flesh has almost no fiber once it is ripe, so it disappears into the custard rather than sitting in it as pieces of fruit would. What you get is an evenly colored, faintly grainy pudding with the fruit spread through every mouthful, closer to a baked pumpkin custard than to an apple charlotte.
Anyone who tells you persimmon tastes chalky or bitter has eaten an underripe Hachiya, which is a genuinely unpleasant experience and nothing at all like this.
Ingredient Notes
Persimmon bread pudding runs on ten things, and the only unusual one is the fruit. Exact amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Fuyu persimmons: about three ripe ones, peeled, seeded and mashed to give a cup and a half of puree.
- Brioche: ten thick slices, day-old or lightly toasted. Challah is the closest substitute; plain sandwich bread turns to paste.
- White chocolate: six ounces, chopped from a bar rather than chips, which contain stabilizers that resist melting.
- Whole milk: two cups. This is a lighter custard than most, so cream is not needed and would flatten the fruit.
- Eggs: three large, whisked and tempered slowly into the warm milk.
- Sugar: one cup in total, split between the fruit and the custard, plus a little for dusting the dish.
- Lemon: zest and juice, both into the fruit. Without the acid the whole pudding tastes flat and one-note.
- Cinnamon and nutmeg: grate the nutmeg fresh if you possibly can, since the pre-ground kind is mostly dust.
- Butter: for the dish, then a dusting of sugar over it, which gives the edges a thin candied crust.
A two quart shallow baking dish is the right vessel. Deep dishes leave the middle wet while the top browns.
How To Make Persimmon Bread Pudding
Preheat the oven before anything else, because the bread wants only a short soak and the custard should not stand around waiting. Persimmon bread pudding comes together faster than most baked desserts, so have the dish buttered before you start.
- First, heat the oven to 350°F. Simmer the persimmon puree with the lemon zest, lemon juice and half a cup of the sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes, then set it aside.
- Next, butter the baking dish generously and dust it with sugar. Tip in the bread, spread it out in one uneven layer, and scatter the cinnamon and nutmeg over the top.
- Then warm the milk, the remaining sugar and the white chocolate together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring often, and take it off the heat the moment the chocolate has melted. Do not let it boil.
- After that, whisk the eggs in a bowl and pour the warm milk in very slowly, whisking the whole time so the eggs do not scramble. Stir the persimmon mixture through.
- Pour the custard over the bread and press the pieces down with a spatula until everything is submerged. Let it sit for 15 minutes while the oven finishes heating.
- Finally, bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deep gold and the center barely wobbles. Rest it for 20 minutes before serving.
The Custard Ratio
Three eggs to two cups of milk is a deliberately light ratio for persimmon bread pudding. Most bread puddings run four or five eggs to the same liquid, which sets firm and sliceable.
Here the fruit puree is doing part of the thickening, and a firmer set would bury it. If you want a tidier square that holds its shape on the plate, add a fourth egg and expect a denser, more custardy result.
How To Tell When Persimmon Bread Pudding Is Done
The center of a persimmon bread pudding should wobble like set jelly when you nudge the dish, not ripple like liquid. That wobble is the whole test, and it disappears entirely as the pudding rests.
A knife slipped into the middle should come out with moist custard clinging to it but nothing that runs. If it comes out completely clean the pudding has gone slightly too far and will be drier than it should be tomorrow.
The top is not a reliable guide on its own, because brioche browns quickly. If it is dark at twenty five minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the dish and keep going.
An instant-read thermometer settles it. Custard is set at 170°F to 175°F in the center, and above 180°F it starts to weep water at the edges.
Common Bread Pudding Mistakes
- Fresh bread. Soft bread is already full of water and has nowhere to put the custard. Use bread that has dried for a day, or toast the cubes for ten minutes.
- Skipping the soak. Fifteen minutes is the minimum. The dry center of a cube needs time to draw liquid in.
- Scrambling the eggs. Pour the hot milk into the eggs, slowly, and not the other way round.
- Boiling the white chocolate. It seizes and turns grainy above a bare simmer, and it will not come back.
- Overbaking. A clean knife means you are already past it. Pull it at the wobble.
- Serving it straight from the oven. Twenty minutes of rest lets the custard finish setting and the flavors settle.
Make It Ahead
Persimmon bread pudding assembles beautifully in advance, which is the main reason it earns a place on a holiday menu.
Build the whole thing up to the point of baking, cover it and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. The long soak actually improves it. Bake it straight from cold and add about ten minutes.
The persimmon puree alone keeps for three days in the refrigerator and freezes for three months, so a glut of fruit can be dealt with the week it arrives and baked much later. Freeze it in cup and a half portions, which is exactly one pudding.
The bread can be cubed and dried out days in advance too. Spread it on a sheet pan, leave it uncovered on the counter overnight, and bag it once it rattles.
Storing Persimmon Bread Pudding
- Refrigerator: covered, for up to 4 days. The texture firms up and it slices cleanly straight from cold.
- Reheating: twenty minutes at 325°F, covered with foil, or ninety seconds in the microwave for a single portion.
- Freezer: up to 2 months, baked and cooled, wrapped in a double layer. Thaw overnight and reheat covered.
- Room temperature: two hours at most, since this is an egg custard and should not sit out on a buffet all evening.
Variations and Substitutions
- Hachiya persimmons: use the raw pulp and skip the simmering step entirely, since it is already soft.
- Dark chocolate: six ounces of bittersweet instead, which turns the whole dish darker and much less sweet.
- Bourbon: two tablespoons in the custard, or a bourbon creme anglaise poured over at the table.
- Nuts and dried fruit: half a cup of toasted walnuts or golden raisins, folded through the bread.
- Different bread: challah, panettone or leftover croissants all work. Panettone in particular is very good here.
- Dairy-free: oat milk and a vegan white chocolate bar. The set is softer but the flavor holds.
What to Serve with Persimmon Bread Pudding
Warm persimmon bread pudding wants something cold alongside it, and preferably something a little sharp.
- Vanilla ice cream, melting into the top. If you make your own, my notes on using an ice cream maker cover the basics.
- Lightly whipped cream with a spoonful of creme fraiche folded in.
- A pot of coffee, and something else white-chocolate-flavored on the table such as white chocolate raspberry muffins for the morning after.
- A small glass of tawny port or a late-harvest riesling.
Here is what readers ask most often.
Persimmon Bread Pudding FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of persimmon is best for baking?
Fuyu for anything where you want the fruit to hold its color and structure, including this persimmon bread pudding, and Hachiya for loaf cakes and steamed puddings that want a wet, jammy pulp. The practical rule is that Fuyu is bought firm and used firm, while Hachiya has to be left until it feels like a water balloon. Using a Hachiya before that point will make the batter astringent and unpleasant.
What are common mistakes when making bread pudding?
Using fresh bread, cutting the soak short, pouring hot milk into cold eggs too fast, and baking until a knife comes out clean. All four produce the same complaint, which is a pudding that is somehow both dry and wet. Day-old bread, fifteen minutes of soaking, slow tempering and pulling the dish while the center still wobbles fix every one of them.
Can I make it without white chocolate?
Yes. Leave it out and add a quarter cup more sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla, or swap in bittersweet chocolate for something much less sweet. The white chocolate is there for body as much as flavor, so the custard without it will be a little looser.
More Questions About Persimmons
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I ripen persimmons quickly?
Put them in a paper bag with an apple or a banana for two to three days. Both give off ethylene, which speeds ripening considerably. Freezing and thawing a Hachiya also breaks down the tannins, and it is the traditional shortcut, though the flesh comes out watery.
Do I have to peel them?
The skin is edible, but for a smooth puree it is worth removing. A vegetable peeler handles a firm Fuyu easily; a ripe Hachiya is simpler to halve and scoop with a spoon.
What was Princess Diana’s favorite dessert?
Bread and butter pudding, according to the royal chefs who cooked for her, which is the plain English ancestor of every recipe on this page. Hers was made with sliced white bread, sultanas and a vanilla custard, and baked until the exposed corners went crisp.
Can I halve the recipe?
Yes, in a one quart dish, and start checking at twenty five minutes. A shallower layer sets faster, so the wobble test matters more than the clock.
Persimmon bread pudding is the one dessert that makes me look forward to the short window when the fruit is in the shops. For another slow, milky pudding that mostly looks after itself, try my slow cooker rice pudding, or for the same holiday table, bourbon pecan pumpkin cheesecake.
Persimmon Bread Pudding with White Chocolate
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Ingredients
For the Persimmon Base
- 1 1/2 cups Fuyu persimmon puree about 3 ripe Fuyu persimmons, peeled, seeded and mashed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar for the fruit
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
For the White Chocolate Custard
- 2 cups whole milk
- 6 ounces white chocolate coarsely chopped from a bar, not chips
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar for the custard
- 3 large eggs
For the Dish
- 10 slices day-old brioche about 1 1/2 pounds, torn or cut into large cubes
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter for the baking dish
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for dusting the buttered dish
Equipment
- 2-quart shallow baking dish
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowl
Instructions
Cook the Persimmon Base
- First, heat the oven to 350F. Peel, seed and mash the persimmons to give about 1 1/2 cups of puree.
- Next, combine the puree with the lemon zest, lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved, then set it aside to cool a little.
Make the White Chocolate Custard
- Then butter the baking dish generously and dust it with the tablespoon of sugar. Tip in the brioche, spread it into one uneven layer and scatter the cinnamon and nutmeg over the top.
- Warm the milk, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the white chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Take it off the heat the moment the chocolate melts, and never let it boil, because white chocolate seizes.
Assemble and Bake
- After that, whisk the eggs in a bowl and pour the warm milk in very slowly, whisking constantly so the eggs do not scramble. Stir the persimmon mixture through.
- Pour the custard evenly over the bread and press the pieces down with a spatula until everything is submerged. Let it soak for 15 minutes, pressing once more halfway through.
- Finally, bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deep gold and the center wobbles like set jelly rather than rippling. Rest it for 20 minutes before serving warm.