Recipe: Spicy persimmon brunch cake tastes, smells delicious
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Persimmon season always makes me think of Jean Brine, Sacramento’s Persimmon Lady.
Back in 2010, this retired state worker wrote the definitive persimmon recipe book to answer any query about what to do with too many persimmons. Titled “Perfectly Persimmon,” her spiral-bound cookbook contains 1,010 recipes for persimmons.
The 440-page book features persimmon ideas for both Fuyu and Hachiya varieties, and everything from appetizers and salads to desserts and sauces.
“When you speak of persimmons, the only thing that comes to 90 percent of people is, 'Oh, I love persimmon cookies!’ ” Brine said in an interview after her book was released. “But that's just a drop in the bucket of what you can do with persimmons.”
Looking for something different to do with my Fuyus, I turn to her cookbook often during persimmon season. My persimmons are now at the super-ripe and mushy stage, perfect for baking.
This breakfast cake is hardy enough for a frosty morning and smells wonderful baking in the oven.
Brine’s cookbook is still available on Amazon. If you have a plentiful supply of persimmons, it’s an excellent addition to your kitchen library.
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Fuyu persimmons can be eaten ripe or crisp.
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Spicy Persimmon Brunch Cake
Makes 9 servings
Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups pureed persimmons
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
½ teaspoon grated lemon rind
½ cup chopped walnuts
Powdered sugar
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| This cake is a lovely choice for brunch or dessert. |
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour an 8-inch baking pan.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together persimmon pulp and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter or margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add persimmon mixture; stir well.
In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Gradually blend flour mixture into the persimmon/butter mixture. Stir in orange and lemon rinds and chopped nuts.
Spoon batter into baking pan and smooth into an even layer.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Let cool at least 10 minutes before removing from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Serve warm.
Adapted from “Perfectly Persimmon” by Jean Brine (Morris Press Cookbooks, 2010).
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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