Spiced Persimmon Cake

This Spiced Persimmon Cake recipe has been in our family for a while and to be honest, I haven’t made it in such a long time. When the folks over at First Fresh sent me a box of persimmons, I knew immediately what I was going to make.

Growing up we had a persimmon tree in our yard and my Grandmother used to make the most amazing cake. I have such fond memories of eating this in her lounge. I haven’t made it in such a long time and it was great to have the opportunity to fish out the recipe.

The great thing about persimmons is that they can be eaten raw, or cooked – and both ways taste delicious. Not only that, they are a good source of Vitamin A (good for eyes), Vitamin C (good for general health) and Potassium.

Sadly persimmons are only usually available between May and mid August – so you have to get in quick to enjoy them! Thankfully they’re grown right here in New Zealand – First Fresh persimmons are grown in Gisborne!

For this particular recipe, you’ll need about 3 or 4 First Fresh persimmons plus the rest of the ingredients listed.

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INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 x Medium First Fresh persimmons (peeled, and cut into small bits)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 125 grams butter (softened)
• 220 grams (1 cup) white sugar
• 250 grams (2 cups) plain white flour (swap out for gluten free flour if needed)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 70 grams (approx. 1 cup) chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Prepare a square baking tin with baking paper
3. Take your cut and peeled persimmons, and put them in a blender and blitz them to a pulp.
4. Tip the persimmon pulp into a bowl and mix in the baking soda.
5. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
6. Add in the persimmon / baking soda mixture, and mix well.
7. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon – slowly mix the flour mixture AND persimmon mixture together.
8. Add in the pecans, and orange/lemon zest and combine.
9. The mixture won’t be extremely runny – it’ll be stiff-ish.
10. Tip the mixture into your prepared tin.
11. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (or until when you insert a toothpick or skewer, it comes out clean)
12. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and turn out on a rack to continue cooling an additional 20 or 30 minutes before serving.

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VIDEO:

Serve with whipped cream or just on it’s own. It’s absolutely delicious when served warm too.

Thanks very much to First Fresh for sponsoring this post and for helping me take a trip down memory lane. You can get your fresh persimmons from your local produce shop or supermarket.