persimmon bread with whiskey

We have this one neighbor in the paese who occasionally offers us things from his garden, always when we happen to meet him outside inadvertently. It's an odd, "Nice to see you. Can I offer you some over-ripe figs?" moment in the parking lot. This is the same guy who scores the day-old pastries from a local bakery; he shares those at times, too. Unfortunately, most of his offerings end up in our umido (organic waste) bucket.

When I can, I try to salvage the fresh produce; however, when I get it a day past its prime, it can be a difficult to impossible task, especially when it appears in the middle of a busy week. Thursday, he gave me about seven soft kaki or persimmons in a plastic bag with instructions to eat them by tomorrow. Eh...

It didn't take me long to decide on a recipe when I came upon a David Lebovitz recommended one from James Beard that also includes whiskey. You know me and my new love affair with Maker's Mark. Of course, I had to borrow some from another neighbor because our bottle has long since been emptied, and I've held off on replacing it until the holidays, when all bets are off concerning alcohol consumption and guilt. She had an unopened bottle that had been given to her three Christmases ago by yet another well-meaning neighbor. 

I followed the recipe exactly, except that I used a handful of golden raisins and another of dried cranberries in place of the two cups of raisins. It's good -- a moist, nutty, fruity quick bread with a hint of whiskey. Richard describes it as "Fruit Cake Lite" -- a perfect fruit cake for someone who doesn't like fruit cake. Hmmm.... The recipe made six small loaves, most of which I plan to distribute to these neighbors in the paese, even though I'm not sure what they'll think of Fruit Cake Lite.