Paw Paw Fruit!

 

Our Paw Paw harvest.

 

Paw Paw trees are native to North America. I have gathered from what I have read that they grow from New York to the Great Plains and as far South as Tennessee. Fun fact: Paw Paw's are the largest, tree fruit, native to the North American continent.

Paw Paw grove.

Paw Paw trees are not very large trees. They grow in the understory of forested areas. They grow in groves, from what I have seen. They are always grouped together.

Paw Paw leaves.

The Paw Paw tree has large leaves. They are similar in shape to Hickory tree leaves. The way to tell them apart is that Paw Paw leaves are smooth around the edges and Hickory leaves have a fine tooth, serrated edge.

Paw Paw fruit growing on a tree in July.

Paw Paw trees have to be 7 or 8 years old to bear fruit. Paw Paw trees have not been grown commercially because the fruits are too perishable to survive shipping. They are ripe for 2 or 3 days and past that point they spoil. The best way to preserve the fruit is to freeze the pulp.

I have only had the pleasure of tasting Paw Paw Fruit once, before this year. It was back when I was a teenager. This year I found a Paw Paw grove at a park close to where we live. I was very excited to be able to try Paw Paw's again! Paw Paw's ripen from August to September. Last week we went to gather some fruit.

Paw Paw's smell very tropical. Very similar to a fresh, ripe pineapple. The skin is green. Inside, the flesh is bright yellow. There are several large, bean shaped, seeds. The flesh is soft and scoop-able. The taste is quite sweet and a little bit like a mango and an American Persimmon.

I wanted to use our Paw Paw's in a recipe so I did some searching online. I tried this recipe for Paw Paw Ice Cream. The results were great. The Paw Paw flavor came through bright and clear.

Paw Paw Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups of Paw Paw fruit puree

2 cups milk

2 cups cream

1 scant cup sugar

5 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

In a sauce pan heat milk, cream, and sugar until it starts to steam. Temper the egg yolks with the hot cream. Pour tempered eggs into the sauce pan and heat until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Add Paw Paw puree and vanilla extract. Chill and then freeze in ice cream maker. I didn't have an ice cream maker so I just put it in a bowl in the freezer and took in out to mix every 30 minutes, or there about, until in was frozen to the right consistency.

Have you heard of Paw Paw's before? Have you ever tried them? Let me known in the comment section!