Persimmon season

- October 11, 2015

I'm writing this while sitting on my back porch, watching the birds rock the feeders (today we're getting Carolina chickadees, cardinals, tufted titmouse, blue jay, brown thrasher and mourning dove visitors) along with a squirrel drinking from the birdfeeder and a huge Eastern tiger swallowtail sucking down nectar on the butterfly plants. I can enjoy this show because it's finally cool enough to sit out on the porch with my laptop again. Summer's just too darn hot and humid, and we all look forward to the first cool days of autumn to get us back outside.

Autumn is also persimmon season in North Central Florida, and each year I repost my persimmon spice cake recipe from SMUGGLER'S BRIDE. I've made one already, but I may tweak the recipe next week by using some of my sourdough discard. Wish me luck!

Smuggler’s Bride Persimmon Cake

“…I have to hunt and fish to keep food on the table,” Rand said. “I can’t be spendin’ all day doin’ women’s work!”

“If it is women’s work, it is not work this woman ever did. At the estate where I lived there were laundresses who did the cleaning for the entire household. I can cook better than you can, but it seems to me that if you have experience doing laundry, then you can continue to do a better job than I would. Not to mention that if I am spending all my time doing laundry I won’t have time to make the pork pie I was planning for dinner. With persimmon cake for dessert.”

There was something wrong with this logic, Rand knew it, but he couldn’t come up with a good argument. It became even harder to think about it when Julia waltzed past him into the house carrying a plate and leaving behind an aroma of griddle cakes, syrup, and woman.

--SMUGGLER'S BRIDE

Preheat oven to 325F

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup margarine, butter or coconut oil

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1 cup persimmon pulp--approx. six small very ripe Florida persimmons

½ cup chopped pecans

To get persimmon pulp: Take very ripe persimmons, cut in half, scoop pulp out. Remove pithy seed area, pulse a few times in food processor.

1. Stir together dry ingredients

2. Cream sugar and butter, add eggs, add dry ingredients, pulp and nuts.

3. Pour mixture into standard loaf pan (grease and flour pan, if not nonstick model), bake one hour and 15 minutes. Let cool on rack ten minutes, remove from pan. Freezes well.