Persimmons are my favorite winter fruit!! They have a delicate, slightly sweet flavor that pairs beautifully with classic warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. They’re delicious as a quick snack, in a wintery salad, or in this delicious persimmon loaf!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make this persimmon loaf.
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Spices - A combination of warming fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves pair beautifully with the persimmons and ginger.
Plain Full-fat Yogurt - I love adding yogurt to baked goods because it keeps them super light and moist! You can also substitute sour cream or whole milk instead.
Candied Ginger - This is optional, but dicing up some crystalized candied ginger adds some fun pops of flavor to the persimmon loaf!
Fuyu Persimmons - The persimmons are the star of the show! More on them below.
How to Choose Persimmons
There are two main types of persimmons that you're likely to see at the grocery store come October-January; hachiya and fuyu. Hachiya persimmons are elongated and shaped like a heart or acorn, they are very astringent before they are ripe and personally, I'm just not a fan. You don't want to eat them unless they are extremely soft (almost soupy on the inside).
Fuyu persimmons, however, are shaped like a tomato and have a delicately sweet flavor. They can be eaten when they are still very firm and are still delicious when they soften. I recommend choosing fuyu persimmons that are very firm because then they will last at home for about two weeks if stored in the crisper draw in the fridge. You can eat them with the skin on or peel them if you prefer!
For this loaf cake, you need persimmon pulp. I prefer the flavor of fuyu persimmons, so I just use a box grater to shred the flesh. But you could also use hachiya pulp instead.
How to Make a Persimmon Loaf
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Using a box grater, grate the flesh of 1 large fuyu persimmon to yield about ½ cup persimmon pulp. Set aside.
Finely chop the candied ginger and place in a small bowl. Toss with a small amount of the dry ingredients until fully coated. This ensures the ginger pieces won't stick together and will evenly distribute throughout the cake.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fully combined. Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
Fold half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then add in the Greek yogurt and persimmon pulp and the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Gently fold in the diced candied ginger.
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the cake comes out easily.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray. You can also use solid metal binder clips to hold the parchment in place.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Optional Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Add in the milk one teaspoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
Pour the glaze over the fully cooled persimmon loaf and top with sliced fuyu persimmons if desired.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Recipe FAQ's
Store covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nope! You can absolutely substitute regular unsalted butter. I just love the flavor that brown butter adds to the persimmon cake.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have different properties so that can not always be swapped 1:1. In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Persimmon Loaf Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Persimmon Loaf
- ¾ cup brown butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup plain full-fat yogurt, substitute sour cream or whole milk
- ½ cup Fuyu persimmons, grated (1 large)
- ½ cup candied ginger, finely chopped
Optional Glaze
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2-3 teaspoons milk, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
- Using a box grater, grate the flesh of 1 large fuyu persimmon to yield about ½ cup persimmon pulp. Set aside.
- Finely chop the candied ginger and place in a small bowl. Toss with a small amount of the dry ingredients until fully coated. This ensures the ginger pieces won't stick together and will evenly distribute throughout the cake.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fully combined. Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Fold half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then add in the Greek yogurt and persimmon pulp and the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Gently fold in the diced candied ginger.
- Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray. You can also use solid metal binder clips to hold the parchment in place.
- Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
- Optional Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Add in the milk one teaspoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
- Pour the glaze over the fully cooled persimmon loaf and top with sliced fuyu persimmons if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Jenna says
I had to google what a persimmon was, but after realizing its a fruit, I figured why not give this a try.
I am SO GLAD I did. The bread was so moist, and the fruit flavor was perfect!