Persimmon season! Time to make the cake!

-

“Possum hangin’ in the tree, Raccoon on the ground; Raccoon say, you stingy rat, Shake them ’simmons down!”
Julia paused in her singing and frowned down at the spoon stirring through the cake batter. “Possum hanging in the tree?” Where had that come from? “Goodness, I’m becoming countrified!”
She chuckled, looking out the kitchen window at the activity in the yard. Rand was doing the morning chores in preparation for their trip to the Iveys’ farm. For a moment she watched him as she stirred, indulging herself in a fantasy that theirs was a normal marriage, two people on the Florida frontier, making a new life together.
But it was as much a fantasy as singing raccoons.

--Smuggler's Bride

It's that time of year, the time when the North Florida farmers market has lovely, ripe, orange persimmons. You can eat them as they are, or soften them up and turn them into yummy treats.

It's also the time of year when I re-post one of my most requested recipes for using up those lovely globes of sun-warmed fruit. If you like "marriage of (in)convenience" stories, then Smuggler's Bride is for you, available again in print and ebook!


 SMUGGLER'S BRIDE PERSIMMON CAKE

Preheat oven to 325F

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 cup persimmon pulp--approx. six small 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.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you have permission to waltz?

-
Image
"Would you care to dance as well?” Light-footed Captain St. Armand was standing behind Daphne, smiling down at her, but before she could answer Alexander said, “Mrs. Murray was about to favor me with a dance, Captain St. Armand.” “I was?” “Indeed you were,” Alexander said, helping Daphne to her feet. She cocked her head to the side, listening to the music. “That music is in waltz time, Dr. Murray. Do you know the waltz? It is my favorite!” “Then it will be my favorite also.” Daphne looked up at him as he took her into his arms, a quizzical grin on her face. “What a charming thing to say, Dr. Murray! I vow, you are becoming quite the gallant.” Alexander said nothing to this, concentrating on the music. Yes, he'd waltzed when ashore. On occasion he'd been invited to balls and assemblies, even a surgeon being a useful man to have when the navy was expected to provide gentlemen at entertainments. But he'd never felt the music, the dance had never mattered so mu...
Read more
-
Image
HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION Worldcon (Denvention3) was fantastic. I arrived Wednesday in plenty of time for my 4:00 panel, Survival Tips for New Writers. The other panelists were David Coe and this year's Campbell Award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal, and along with the audience I picked up tips from them on how to improve my work habits. On Thursday I had a full day of panels. How do Ebooks Change Writing--an Ebook Writing Primer was intriguing, and moderator Dave Howell worked hard to keep us focused on the topic and not wandering off into weird ebook stories. We talked about interactive ebooks with hyperlinks, but also about how many readers seem content with ebooks simply being an exact copy of a print book delivered through different media. Aaaargh! The Pirate Panel was just what you might expect from the title, an exploration of why we like pirates so much, and where pirate history and mythology collide. The other panelists--David Riley, MistyMassey and Linda Donoh...
Read more
-
Book Reviews--Dearly Devoted Dexter Dearly Devoted Dexter Jeff Lindsay 2005, Doubleday Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only takes out the trash, is back in a novel that picks up where Darkly Dreaming Dexter ended. In that first novel we learned how Dexter’s foster father saw early what the boy was and channeled his social quirks into a more acceptable outlet. Oh, Dexter still likes to torture people to death–that will never change–but thanks to his cop dad Dexter has a mission–to only use his talents on really, really bad people. Specifically, other serial killers. Dexter works for the Miami PD as a blood spatter specialist and he cheerfully goes through his life, as he puts it, pretending to be human and letting his dark friend come out to play every now and then. Dexter’s sister is a Miami cop and while she has a pretty good idea what he’s up to, she leaves him alone to do his thing. The problem is, Dexter’s doing a little too good a job of passing for human. So much so that t...
Read more