For anybody unfamiliar with the pretty orange fruits, American persimmons are native, highly-nutritious and were prized by American Indians and early settlers. They also make a fabulous cake! A few years back, I went on a Fall jaunt to persimmon-expert Jerry Lehman’s 85-acre orchard in southwestern Vigo County, Indiana, to experience these fruits first hand.

Right out of the car, I learned that what looks ripe on the tree, may not be ready to eat: Bite into an unripe American persimmon and the tannins make your mouth feel as if you’re chewing on a cross between aspirin, alum, and chalk. But ripened till they’re very, very soft–a process called “bletting,” persimmons have a beautiful, caramel sweetness all their own. (Tip: you may find piles of what look like “gone bad” persimmons on the “reduced for quick sale” racks at the grocery, but they’re probably not bad at all! The deeper the orange and the softer the fruit the better.)

At Jerry’s orchard, I learned that the fruits are allowed to fully ripen on the tree until they drop to the ground, to be carefully plucked up by harvesters making their way along the tree rows  Research from Slow Food USA (which includes the American persimmon in its Ark of Taste) shows that American Indians mixed the fruit with corn meal and acorns to make breads and soups. African Americans used the pulp to make sweet puddings, candy, and cakes. Early settlers roasted the seeds to make something like coffee.  And Appalachians brewed dried persimmon seeds into a kind of beer.

While you can find wild American persimmon trees from Connecticut to Florida and as far west as Texas, the bulk of persimmon production in the United States has centered in Indiana. There a woman named Dymple Green commercially canned American persimmon marketed as a product called “Dymple’s Delight.” We adapted this recipe from a little booklet Dymple put together in the ’70s featuring persimmon puddings, breads, candies and cakes. I think the caramel icing perfectly highlights the already-caramel-ly overtones of the ripe fruit. If you can’t find local persimmons, the larger Fuyu or Hachiya varieties will also work. Note: While Fuyu’s are non-astringent, and can be eaten when firm, for this recipe, you will want them to be well-ripened and soft.

Persimmon Spice Cake with Caramel Icing

2016-05-02 00:42:30

Serves 10

Cinnamon & nutmeg spiced cake with caramel-ly persimmon and caramel icing. Perfect fall dessert

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Ingredients

1. Persimmon Pulp
2. 2 cups, store bought, or 2 cups made from 10 to 12 very ripe American persimmons, or 2 cups made from 6 to 8 of the larger, Asian, persimmon
3. Persimmon Spice Cake Ingredients
4. 2 cups sugar
5. 1 cup vegetable oil (grapeseed, canola or corn work well)
6. 4 eggs, beaten well
7. 2 cups persimmon pulp
8. 3 cups all-purpose flour
9. 2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
10. 1 tsp each salt, cinnamon and freshly-grated nutmeg
11. Caramel Icing Ingredients
12. 1 stick butter
13. 1 cup brown sugar, packed
14. 1/4 tsp salt
15. 1/4 cup milk
16. 2 cups powdered sugar
17. 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Make persimmon pulp: Place persimmons in a colander or large strainer. Wash with plenty of cold, clear water. Repeat. Remove stems and leaves. Place persimmons in a food mill, or large fine-mesh strainer. Process through the mill, or, using a pestle, press the persimmons until all of the pulp is extracted through the sides of the strainer, leaving the seeds and skin behind. OR Peel the persimmons and use an immersion blender or food processor to blend the fruit until smooth. You should have at least two cups of persimmon pulp.
2. Make cake: Cream sugar, oil, eggs and persimmon together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sift together dry ingredients and add in two batches to the wet ingredients, stirring until no flour streaks remain. Spray non-stick spray on two nine-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper. Pour batter into pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool cakes in pans on racks for 15 minutes. Remove cakes to racks.
3. Make caramel frosting: Melt butter in large saucepan. Blend in brown sugar and salt. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring continually. Add milk and continue stirring until mixture heats to boiling. Remove from heat. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar, adding vanilla at the end and whisking one more time. Ice cake immediately as caramel frosting will “set up” and begin to harden.

Notes

1. Patience! let store-bought persimmons ripen a good, long while– a process called “bletting”–until they are completely soft and almost appear over-ripe. At this stage, they’ll have an unctuous velvety sweetness with caramel overtones.

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