{"id":2502,"date":"2009-12-20T23:34:52","date_gmt":"2009-12-21T06:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/?p=2502"},"modified":"2009-12-20T23:34:52","modified_gmt":"2009-12-21T06:34:52","slug":"persimmon-cake-spices-up-holiday-brunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/persimmon-cake-spices-up-holiday-brunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Persimmon cake spices up holiday brunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"persimmoncake\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the most beautiful fruit in the market right now are the Fuyu persimmons with their glossy skin and brilliant orange color.\u00a0\u00a0 They’re so attractive that many people buy them just to display in bowls as part of their holiday decor.<\/p>\n

It would be a shame, though, to let such sweet and spicy fruit\u00a0 go untasted. Unlike their acorn-shaped cousins, the Hachiya persimmons, which must soften to an almost jelly-like state before they become palatable, Fuyus are at their best when they’re still nearly as crisp as an apple. They’re great eaten fresh in a salad<\/a> or even straight out of hand.<\/p>\n

I never really thought about baking with Fuyus, however, until I tasted a slice of homey apple cake from a local bakery not long ago.\u00a0 There was a bowl of persimmons sitting in my dining room and I had been looking for something new to do with them.\u00a0 For the first time, I looked at Fuyus in a new light.\u00a0 If they have a texture comparable to apples, I thought, maybe they, too, would make a good cake.\"persimmons\"<\/p>\n

The result was a simple, moist cake that would be right at home on a holiday brunch table.\u00a0 It’s spicy and lightly sweet,\u00a0 with the gentle flavor of persimmon underscored by a generous shot of orange juice.\u00a0 Not only is it easy to make, the flavor improves if it’s baked a day or two ahead.<\/p>\n

You need fresh, firm persimmons for the best cake.\u00a0 The version I made with persimmons that had begun to get soft wasn’t nearly as flavorful and some of the slices melted to mush during baking, leaving unsightly holes in the cake.\u00a0 It pays also to take care to evenly layer the slices, because the pattern is visible when you cut the cake.<\/p>\n

Inspiration for this cake came from an apple recipe in “The Way We Cook,”<\/a> by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven (Houghton Miflin, 2003), a collection of practical recipes for modern home cooks with very busy lives.<\/p>\n

PERSIMMON CAKE<\/strong>
\nMakes 1 10-inch cake<\/em><\/p>\n

4 or 5 medium Fuyu persimmons
\n1 tablespoon cinnamon
\n1\u00bd cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar, divided use
\n3 cups all-purpose flour
\n1 tablespoon baking powder
\n\u00bd teaspoon salt
\n1 cup canola oil
\n4 large eggs
\n\u00bc cup orange juice
\n1 tablespoon vanilla extract<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 10-inch tube pan.\u00a0 Line bottom with parchment paper cut to fit and buttered.\u00a0 Dust pan with flour and tap out the excess.<\/p>\n

Peel persimmons, quarter, core, slice thinly and set aside.\u00a0 Mix cinnamon with 5 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl and set aside.<\/p>\n

Combine flour, remaining sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle.\u00a0 Mix at medium speed for a minute or so to evenly blend the dry ingredients.\u00a0 Add oil, eggs, orange juice and vanilla and beat until smooth.<\/p>\n

Spoon a third of the batter into prepared pan and top with half of the persimmon slices, keeping them away from the sides of the pan.\u00a0 Press slices lightly into the batter and sprinkle with half the cinnamon and sugar mixture.\u00a0 Repeat with a third more batter and the remaining persimmon slices and cinnamon sugar.\u00a0 Finish with last third of the batter and smooth the top with a spatula. Don’t worry if it doesn’t cover the persimmons completely.<\/p>\n

Bake on center rack of oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.\u00a0 Test whether cake is done by inserting a skewer into the center.\u00a0 It should come out clean although it may feel a little sticky if it has gone through some persimmons.<\/p>\n

Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes before running a knife around the inside and outside edges of the pan to release it.\u00a0 Turn cake out onto the rack, remove the paper liner and let set right side up to finish cooling.\u00a0 Although it’s delicious as is, a little powder sugar dusted over the top is a nice touch.<\/p>\n

Inspired by a recipe from “The Way We Cook” by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven<\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the most beautiful fruit in the market right now are the Fuyu persimmons with their glossy skin and brilliant orange color.\u00a0\u00a0 They’re so attractive that many people buy them just to display in bowls as part of their holiday decor. It would be a shame, though, to let such sweet and spicy fruit\u00a0 … Continue reading Persimmon cake spices up holiday brunch<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2502"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2553,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions\/2553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}