Persimmon Cake

From my kitchen / By

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I hope you had a peaceful and restful Thanksgiving.  We had a very nice time, with my mother-in-law hosting for all the extended family.    I was relieved to not have to make the turkey, since I didn’t think I could handle the smell of roasting turkey filling the house for hours and hours, but the day before, I felt a little better than I have the past several weeks, and managed to make some desserts to bring.   I made chocolate-pecan and regular pecan pies, an apple-cranberry puff-pastry tart,  and a gingerbread (I usually make this version, but this year, I kept it simple).

I had a lot of very ripe persimmons on hand, and so made a persimmon cake as well.   Persimmon cake is very moist and has a wonderful texture – it reminds me a little bit of applesauce cake.   For folks who don’t like the texture of raw persimmons, this is a great way for them to enjoy this nutritious and tasty fruit.

This winter we’re putting in a persimmon tree, and I’m looking forward to the years and years of cakes and cookies we’ll enjoy from it.

Here’s the easy recipe:

Persimmon Bundt Cake

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease and flour a bunt pan thoroughly.
In a medium bowl, sift together
  • 2 cups unbleached white flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, beat together

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups persimmon pulp (about 8 very ripe fuyu persimmons, peeled and squished)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Pour into greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hr 10 min to 1 hr 20 min, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Let cool ten minutes before carefully inverting cake from pan.

When cake cools, you may wish to drizzle a simple lemon or vanilla glaze over the top.

Enjoy!

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And now, to get crackin’ on Christmas gifts still not finished!