What Is Pawpaw Fruit? How to Make Pawpaw Bread

The pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a tropical fruit native to North America that goes by many names: The Hoosier banana, the Appalachian banana, and the Quaker Delight.

The pawpaw tree is a small, understory tree that grows throughout the eastern regions of the United States and southern regions of Canada, like Ontario. Pawpaws are related to the custard apple, soursop, and cherimoya, and produce fresh fruit from striking maroon-colored flowers that require cross-pollination from flies and beetles. The resulting berry is the largest edible fruit indigenous the United States, rich in vitamin C and with skin that ranges from a greenish-yellow hue to a deeply yellow-brown when ripe. Pawpaw seeds are relatively large, and easy to remove, not unlike those of a Fuyu persimmon.

Unless you live in the Midwest, fresh pawpaw can be difficult to find, especially outside of its short season—a few weeks in late summer throughout Southern states like Florida, and into the early to mid-fall for places like Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, Kansas, and Ohio.

Pawpaws aren’t typically found in most grocery stores or farmers’ markets, but many rare fruit growers outside of the region have begun to experiment with small harvests, and frozen pawpaw pulp can be found online.

Pawpaw fruits take on a smooth, custardy texture as they ripen, with flavors reminiscent of bananas, mango, or papaya. Thanks to their sweetness, ripe pawpaw can be eaten raw, but the sweet, custardy tropical fruit is a star ingredient in smoothies and various desserts like pawpaw ice cream, moist pawpaw quick bread, and even pawpaw puddings.

To eat a pawpaw, slice it lengthwise into two halves, and use a spoon to first remove the seeds before scooping out the ripe fruit. Discard the skins.