♪
>> The Mitchell Persimmon Festival is a fall tradition
not to be missed.
Sidewalks are packed with vendor selling fall treats
and a parade stretches on for blocks
through this small southern Indiana town.
But it's on the other side of Mitchell
where the real action is happening,
where home bakers are competing
in the annual persimmon pudding
>> Good luck.
>> This Indiana delicacy, much like English puddings,
isn't much more than flour, sugar, spices and,
of course, persimmons, but the final results vary wildly.
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>> This one here is good.
It's coloring.
There's not hardly any tears in it at all,
and the top of it is beautiful, smooth, beautiful color.
And I bet the taste is almost as delicious
as the pudding looks.
>> Alverta Hart has been involved
in the persimmon pudding contest for decades.
She won first place in 1992,
and is overseeing this year's judging.
I■m looking for them to be the same size
all the way around.
and not be lopsided on one side.
I want it to be a perfect piece.
And sometimes you can■t have tha I don■t care if you try, if you
if you made a hundred puddings, you■re not going to have that.
>> But what really goes into making
the perfect persimmon pudding?
First, you are going to need some persimmons.
>> These persimmons are about the common size
you see on most trees.
>> Jane Root was the Mitchell Persimmon Pudding Champion
of 2021.
She knows all too well that the quality of your persimmons
can make or break a recipe.
Make sure, number one, they are always on the ground.
You don't want to pick off the tree,
because they will be green.
And I usually remove the cap --
called the cap and the bottom stem.
You can do that once you get home,
but one less project you have to do.
>> While many local stores in southern Indiana
sell frozen persimmon pulp,
many bakers still hunt for the fruit themselves.
American persimmons grow abundantly in southern Indiana
on trees that can grow 60 feet tall and 35 feet wide.
These persimmons have a light, sweet flavor,
similar to an apricot.
When the fruit is ripe, it will fall from the tree.
Pick them too early,
and they will have an overwhelmingly tart taste.
>> One unripe persimmon can ruin a whole pudding.
♪
And the best way to do it is to get in there and smash 'em.
>> Persimmon pudding recipes are often passed down
through the generations.
>> Buttermilk first.
>> Jane's recipe --
>> Baking soda.
>> -- comes from her mother-in-law.
>> A cup of milk.
Two cups of the pulp.
Two cups of sugar.
Two eggs.
Everybody has their own different method
of making a persimmon pudding.
A dash of cinnamon.
Vanilla extract.
I think the secret to a really good persimmon pudding
is not to overbake it.
That is it.
I'm sure there are other things that people will say,
but to me, not to overbake the pudding.
Usually 50 minutes.
And that is a persimmon pudding.
♪
>> Back in Mitchell, the judges are getting down to work.
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>> That one.
>> That one's not bad either.
>> From dozens of entries,
the puddings are eventually whittled down to three.
>> What are we looking for when we taste the pudding?
The main thing, you want to taste the persimmons.
You want to taste whether they are sweet
or are they going to be puckery?
And you want it to be inviting.
Just like if you are having company,
do I really want to serve this or do I want to pitch it?
>> I think that's the thing.
I don't think the sugar got mixed well.
>> Yeah.
>> That's gotta go.
♪
>> That's...
>> That's not bad.
>> That's good.
Winners are announced at the closing ceremony
of the Persimmon Festival and receive cash prizes,
bragging rights, and the knowledge that they are
helping to carry on a Mitchell tradition.
>> My mim used to make me persimmon puddings growing up.
So when I married my husband, the property that we are on now,
we have six trees.
So it produces quite a few persimmons.
So I think the secret is that we have fresh.
So we picked the persimmons yesterday, before the contest,
and ran them through the colander.
So we have fresh pulp.
Wasn't frozen, and right into the contest.
It feels pretty good.
I got second, so I■m not sure, I think I can enter again
next year maybe and try for firs We■ll see how it goes.