Join us for the 2nd Annual Pawpaw Fest! Plus, a pawpaw ice cream recipe you won’t want to miss! NEW DATE BECAUSE MOTHER NATURE SAYS SO!
The pawpaws at the farm are ripening a bit more slowly than last year, thanks to a colder, wetter spring – so they’re not quite ready yet. And who wants a fest without pawpaws?
Missouri’s favorite funky fruit is getting the star treatment at Ferguson’s 2nd Annual Pawpaw Fest, hosted by EarthDance Organic Farm School and the Ferguson Farmers Market on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 8 a.m. to Noon! The fest promises a flavorful, educational, and quirky (like the fruit!) celebration of the largest edible fruit native to North America.
Pawpaws’ creamy, custard-like flesh tastes like a tropical mashup of banana, mango, and melon – but they grow wild in Missouri woods, not the rainforest. And, believe it or not, they are classified as berries! EarthDance will offer multiple varieties of fresh pawpaws at the fest, each with its own unique flavor notes – some a bit more citrusy, others leaning nutty or vanilla-like.
EarthDance growers and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri tree experts will be on hand info for aspiring backyard or community orchard growers, and there will even be pawpaw seedlings available. You’ll also learn about the fruit’s ancient roots. Pawpaw trees date back over 50 million years and once fed megafauna like mastodons, who helped spread their seeds across the continent with a little help from their digestive systems. Today, pawpaws are still a favorite snack for opossums, raccoons, foxes, and other forest critters who follow their noses to the fruit’s ripe, tropical scent.
Pawpaw blossoms are considered botanically “perfect.” This means each deep burgundy blossom has all of the necessary parts to reproduce. They are protogynous, which means they are one sex when they open, then they transition to another as part of their natural developmental process. They’re pollinated not by bees but by flies. Since flies aren’t always reliable, some growers hang rotting meat from branches to attract the flies, or hand-pollinate with paintbrushes. “We hand pollinate, but we haven’t tried hanging meat yet,” Production Manager, farmer, and educator Will Delacey says. “As a teaching farm, it seems like an experiment we need to try though.”
Of course, the festival is also about flavor. Treats will include pawpaw ice cream sandwiches from Sugarwitch, pawpaw beer from Natural History Brewing, and pawpaw kombucha from Confluence Kombucha. And more local vendors will join the fun with pawpaw-forward pancakes, sauces, baked goods, and more.
For anyone who wants to bring the taste home, a pawpaw ice cream recipe is included in this edition of the Ferguson Neighborhood News – just right for making your own creamy pawpaw treat after the fest.
Kids and curious adults can enjoy hands-on pawpaw activities throughout the morning, and taste this short-season fruit rarely found in a grocery store while it lasts – it ripens for just a few precious weeks each year.
Whether you’re a pawpaw pro or a curious first-timer, come out to the Ferguson Farmers Market for a fruity morning of flavor, folklore, and fun.
Pawpaw Fest 2025
📅 Saturday, September 20 | 🕗 8 AM – 12 PM
📍 Ferguson Farmers Market, 501 S Florissant Rd
🥭 Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.
EarthDance Organic Farm School’s Pawpaw Ice Cream Recipe
(Adapted from Hank Shaw’s recipe at https://honest-food.net/paw-paw-ice-cream/)
Makes about 1 quart
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Churn time: 20 – 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour – 1 hour and 40 minutes
2 cups mashed paw paws, about 5 or 6 pawpaws
3 cups cream
1 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 a vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 egg yolks
Salt and lime zest (optional, to taste *when serving)
Prepare your pawpaw mash. We find it easier to process pawpaws that have been frozen and allowed to partially thaw. They peel easily, and then you’re just left to remove the seeds. Once peels, you can also smash it all through a colander to try to remove the seeds. With fresh, ripe pawpaws, you can slice in half like an avocado, remove seeds, then scoop pulp out with a spoon or your hands.
Once peels and seeds are removed, use a hand blender or stand blender to emulsify the pawpaw pulp. Add a small amount of cream if needed. Cover (so the flies don’t get into it) and set aside.
Separate your egg yolks out. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Cover and set aside.
To make the custard for the ice cream, heat the cream and milk and sugar in a pot over medium heat to the steaming point, about 165°F. If you’re using a real vanilla bean, add it to the mixture now. If you are using extract, hold off for now.
Stirring the eggs all the time, add one ladle of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks. Keep stirring and add a second ladle full of hot cream – this is tempering the eggs so they don’t curdle. Once it’s well mixed, pour the egg mixture into the pot, and stir.
Heat it back to the steaming point, stirring often. It’s ready when it thickens to nappe consistency. You can do a finger test to see if you’re there: Dip a spoon in the custard, it should coat the back such that when you run a finger across the spoon, it holds a line and doesn’t immediately flow back together. Now’s the time to stir in the vanilla extract if that’s what you’re using. Remove from heat.
Whisk in the pawpaw mash until it’s all well combined.
Pour the custard into a bowl or mason jars. Set the bowl or jars into a larger bowl filled with ice to cool the mix down quickly, or set on counter until cool enough to refrigerate. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
When the custard is cool, remove the vanilla bean if you used one.
With an ice cream maker, remember to freeze your canister for at least 24 hours. Put the mixture into your ice cream maker. Turn it on, and let it churn to desired consistency, about 20-25 minutes. It should be soft serve consistency. If you want scooping consistency, put in freezer for about 2 hours.
If you’re hand churning, you can pour it into your canister. You also need to prepare a tub containing ice and rock salt. Place the canister in your bucket of ice and salt, and hand churn until it reaches desired consistency. If you want scooping consistency, put in freezer for about 2 hours.
Serve with a sprinkle of salt and lime zest to taste.
