Olga's Very Own Turkish Persimmon Bread

moist and packed with the flavours of persimmon, dried fig and walnut

Here is one of those jewels of a recipe:  this persimmon loaf is scrumptious beyond compare.

persimmons look like this: soft and fleshy

  

Let me share what I know about persimmons:

I can’t say this is a fruit that I am  particularly familiar with other than knowing that here in Turkey it’s called trabzon hurması, literally Trabzon dates.  Trabzon is a place on the Black Sea and I presume they originated there. Now they are grown all over Turkey. They were grown in both China and Japan for centuries but nowadays they can be found in other Mediterranean countries, the Middle East and the US.  The season – usually October to December in the northern hemisphere –  is right now: you must have seen them in all their beautiful shining glory in the markets or at your local manav.

at Yeniköy Friday market or pazar recently

Thanks to Olga and Wikipedia both, I now know that there are basically two types of persimmon:  Hachiya which is the most common of the astringent varieties, and Fuyu, the most commonly sold non-astringent sort. Both varieties are available here: hachiya is heart-shaped and needs to be eaten when very soft almost bursting out of its skin preferably with a spoon, and is best for cooking with. Fuyu is tomato-like in shape and is the better variety for eating fresh:  you will find it  firm, crunchy and sweet. Peeling is a matter of preference. If your persimmon is a little hard, place it in a paper bag with a red delicious apple to help it ripen.

cut in half through the middle, you find a beautiful star pattern 

You have to see this fruit  to believe its gorgeous colours ranging from a vibrant light yellow-orange to a jewel-like red-orange depending on the species and variety.  Persimmons truly give those ruby-red pomegranates a run for their money in the vibrancy stakes.

Olga who writes the lovely blog Delicious Istanbul, made the decision to add some red pepper flakes or pul biber just to make it Turkish! She says – quite rightly – that Turks add pul biber to just about everything in the savoury line, especially soups, so why not extend that idea just a little bit and sprinkle some into a cake mix? I liked that logic!

Instead of  the usual chopped walnuts, using them whole adds a completely new dimension:  as Olga says:

‘...biting through one is like stumbling upon a little treasure when you least expect.’

And that’s exactly what TT thought!

Istanbul is full of nuts right now, especially walnuts: sacks, bags, baskets, boxes of them outside every kuru yemiş/dried fruit and nut shop in town.

walnuts outside a shop in Kadıköy Çarşı where we were today

....and interestingly enough, these dried persimmons were right there too.
I have never seen or noticed these before. The sign says
Please Don't Touch!

I used dried figs but I’m sure dried apricots would be equally delicious. It just depends which you have to hand – it’s that chunky texture you’re after.....

....which you can see clearly in this picture

Ingredients for Olga’s Very Turkish Persimmon Bread

Adapted by Olga from David Lebovitz

1 ¾ cups sieved plain flour

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda/karbonat

½ tsp ground nutmeg/toz küçük hindistan cevizi

1 tsp red pepper flakes/pul biber  I CHICKENED OUT AND USED ONLY ½ TSP

1 ¼ cups  granulated sugar/toz şekeri

½ cup softened butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup persimmon pulp puréed (2-3 ready-to-burst persimmons) I SIMPLY USED A FORK TO MASH THEM

1 cup walnuts/ceviz

1 cup dried figs/kuru incir OR sun-dried apricots/kayısı

Method

•         Pre-heat oven to 175°C/350°F.

•         Sieve and combine the dry ingredients (first 5 on the list) in a mixing bowl. Then add the softened butter and with your finger tips work it into the dry ingredient mix to achieve a moist sand texture.

•         Add the sugar and then the lightly beaten eggs and persimmon purée. Mix well.

I think I had one hachiya and one fuyu! Both exceedingly ripe

•         Finally stir in the walnut halves and chunks of dried figs or apricots.

what a fabulous batter it made..

•          Butter your  9-inch loaf tin - THIS IS A VERY STICKY BATTER SO I RECOMMEND LINING YOUR PAN WITH GREASEPROOF PAPER – and pour the mixture in. Spread it evenly in the tin.

•         Bake for about 1 hour 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean, and turn out on the rack to cool.

here we are: Olga's Very Own Turkish Persimmon Bread

Let's say it's 4 o’clock on a grey November afternoon. How about cutting a couple of slices of this delectable bread to have with a cup of tea on the sofa?

one perfect mouthful of Persimmon Bread

Afiyet olsun!