The orange Fuji persimmons at the market were the inspiration I needed to make a non-chocolate cake. In the past, the unpalatable astringency of unripe persimmons had kept me away from them.
But, the combination of a pot-luck dinner party, the memory of Nancy’s amazing persimmon cake and having both a food blog and newspaper columns that need posts, I decided to practice what I preach – “Be brave, take a chance, experiment and tell me about your success!”
I created a persimmon cake filled with apricot mousse and topped with whipped cream and it was a success! – Here’s how I did it:
Persimmon Cake
I pre-heated the oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F and greased and floured two 22 cm / nine inch cake pans.
I used a mixer to cream 120 g/half a cup of unsalted butter with 110 g/ half a cup of sugar. When the butter was light and fluffy I added four eggs, 95 g/ three quarters of a cup of milk and one teaspoon of vanilla and created a mixture that looked as if it had curdled.
I used a fork to combine 190 g/ one and a half cups of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, one teaspoon of baking soda, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, half a teaspoon of nutmeg, one teaspoon of ginger and one teaspoon of allspice.
I peeled and mashed enough ripe, slightly soft, Fuji persimmons to make 500 g/ two cups of pulp, chopped 100 g/ one cup of walnuts and diced 100 g/ a quarter of a cup of crystalized ginger.
I added the persimmon pulp to the butter egg mixture and then stirred in the flour mixture, nuts and ginger. After thirty five minutes in the oven, a toothpick poked into the center of the cake came out dry and the cake was done.
I allowed the cake to cool for ten minutes before I tipped it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make this cake more festive, I made an apricot mousse to put between the layers. Here’s how I did it:
Apricot Mousse
I used a small food processor to puree apricots from a 432 g/15.5 oz can of apricots in heavy syrup and softened one package of unflavored gelatin in the reserved syrup. When the gelatin had absorbed the liquid, I heated it until the gelatin had dissolved and then added the syrup and one tablespoon of orange liquor to the apricot purree.
I used an electric mixer to whip one pint of cream until stiff peaks had formed. I folded one cup of the whipped cream into the apricot mixture and put it into the refrigerator to chill and thicken for ten minutes. Assembly was simple. A layer of cake, two thirds of the mousse, second layer of cake, the remainder of the mousse, and the final slathering of the rest of the whipped cream. I decorated the cake with a couple of teaspoons of apricot jam and slices of persimmon.
The slices of persimmon were carefully examined and tasted before I cut the cake because no one at our table had ever eaten persimmon.
The cake was declared a success by all and I hope you give it a try.
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Persimmon Cake List Apricot Mousse List
- 120 g/ 1/2 c unsalted butter
- 110 g/ 1/2 c sugar
- 4 eggs
- 95 g/ 3/4 cup milk
- 1 t vanilla
- 190 g/ 1 1/2 c flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1 t baking soda
- 1/2 t kosher salt
- 1/2 t nutmeg
- 1 t ginger
- 1 t allspice
Apricot Mousse List
- 432 g/15.5 oz can apricots in heavy syrup
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 1 T orange liquor
- 1 pint heavy cream
My son and his wife live in Brighton and get a veg box each week from Riverford Farms. I don’t think they have ever had persimmon in there box. They look forward to the mystery and challenge of the contents of the veg box and there was a time when they were fed up with parsnips.
My persimmons came in my weekly veg box delivery. I am not sure what type they were…. Once a week I get an organic veg box delivered from a farm in south England (I live in London). It’s a great arrangement since it makes me cook with different things quite regularly.
Hello. I found your site today via No Love Sincerer…. I navigated over because I also posted about persimmons today. It was the first time I had cooked with them, but my colleagues and I enjoyed the cookies I made. I would definitely cook with persimmons again and your cake looks delicious. Thanks for the post!