Ginger Persimmon Bread

I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving full of delectable foods shared with family and the important people in your life. I love this time of year because I not only get to hang out with my family, but I also get to cook with  and for them!  This year I went to Santa Barbara where our family had a potluck. I knew everyone would be so stuffed from Turkey and other coma causing dishes, so I opted to not make a cake this time.  Instead I made chocolate chip cookies and Ginger Persimmon Bread.

Last year I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for Thanksgiving to show off my new cake decorating skills to my family. Can you believe it's already been a year since I've gotten into this edible artform? I have definitely come a long way.  I used pineapple chunks to make a heart with some royal icing flowers I made to accent. Here's how that cake turned out...

The chocolate chip cookies I made this year were a big hit.  They were the perfect dessert treat after a heavy delicious meal.  We were able to sit around the dinner table and nibble on them while drinking some Moscato and/or tea.  They were also an ideal accompaniment to the vanilla ice cream and berries that my cousins brought.  Before the end of the night, they were all gone! Perhaps I should have made more.

Then there was the Ginger Persimmon Bread.  Who's tried Ginger Persimmon Bread before? Not me.  Some people barely even know what a persimmon is...this made me all the more anxious to try it.  I got the recipe from my new favorite blogger Joy the Baker...you can find her recipe here.  I stumbled across this recipe and realized that I have all those ingredients, plus something about it screams Thanksgiving. 

First part of this recipe is the Ginger...it calls for both ground and fresh. Usually whenever my parents come back from Hawaii, they bring back loads of fresh Hawaiian Ginger given to us by our relatives. As you can see from this next picture, my mom recently came back from Hawaii.

Second part to this recipe is the Persimmon.  This is the part that reminds me of Thanksgiving...they're in season from October-December and are in abundance during this time.  I had plenty to work with in my kitchen.  Joy the Baker's recipe calls for ripened Hachiya Persimmons which look more like orange tomatoes from its tapered body. I had Fuyu Persimmons which are flatter and meant to be eaten like crunchy apples. Since my Fuyu Persimmons were ripened to the point of being overripe, I figure I could substitute.

This is what the persimmon pulp looked like. Isn't it just a lovely Thanksgiving color?

Next thing left to do was combine all the ingredients and pour them into my baking liners. I absolutely love the smell of freshly grated nutmeg. After all this yummy baking, my house smelled divine. 

"What does is taste like?" you ask...I'd say it tastes almost like carrot cake since they both have similar spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, but like most breads, they are not nearly as sweet as cakes.  The consistency is similar to zucchini bread. There's a hint of the ginger flavor and some persimmon flavor but not as much as I hoped for.  I think the persimmon acts more as a sweetener and keeps the bread moist. Hmm, I wonder how different it would be if I used the Hachiya. If you're interested in tasting this for yourself, I'd be happy to make one for you.  I plan to bake a bunch of holiday treats to package and sell, so let me know if you'd like to place an order.

Enjoy the rest of your November. Thanks for stopping by. 

~Abs of Cakes~