A super moist bread, flavored with vanilla and nutmeg. Adapted from David Lebovitz, who adapted it from James Beard’s Beard on Bread.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup Hachiya persimmon pulp (2 medium or 3 small squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9-inch loaf pan. If you want to be able to remove the whole loaf from the pan, dust the pan with flour and tap out any excess, or line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
- Add yogurt, eggs and vanilla to melted butter and mix well. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients and persimmon pulp. Stir until just mixed and pour into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake 1 hour, until the loaf is no longer jiggly and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before removing from pan (and run a knife along the sides first to loosen).
Notes
- Pulp from a fully-ripe hachiya persimmon hardly needs mashing. I use a fork to scrape extra flesh off the skin, and I don’t fuss if some skin gets in. You could puree and strain the persimmon pulp if you are very particular.
- I have used coconut oil for half the butter with no discernible difference.
- The original James Beard recipe has one cup each of raisins and toasted nuts, as well as 1/3 cup cognac/bourbon/whiskey (in place of the yogurt I use here).
- Bread will keep for about a week, well-wrapped, at room temperature. It freezes very well also.
Here’s a link back to the post and pictures.
