First recipe of the new year is CAKE. Should be some kind of ridiculous “detox” salad or smoothie bowl (aka cold fruit soup). This is of course ignoring the fact that the only legitimate detox is one that occurs in a medical setting and is reserved for addicts. I digress. You will never see a supposed “detox” recipe from me because they don’t exist. Also I personally hate smoothies. Just eat the fruit people.
Back to this cake, this lovely spiced cake with a tangy crunchy lemon glaze. This cake disappeared FAST. That spice + tang combo cannot be beat. I also loved that it uses up persimmons which aren’t that common. Persimmons have a very muted flavor but they become so soft when ripe and blend up so easily and are perfect for cakes! Kind of like pumpkin but without the strong taste that pumpkin delivers. You don’t even have to peel these before blending, just lop the tops off and whir away!
Did you set any new years resolutions this year? I didn’t. In fact I even paused my gym membership because the thought of heading into the gym during the busy month of January just stresses me out and who needs that? For now I am just focusing on cooking and eating. It’s like Christmas never ended.
However, I am happy that Christmas and New Years Eve are over because my grocery budget can finally recover! Do the holidays wipe out your grocery budget also? I don’t even partake in gift giving or exchanges but still, all that dang food is expensive!
Luckily this cake is perfect because like most cakes it uses up a bunch of pantry staples: flour, sugar, baking soda, powdered sugar, spices, and oil. Fun Fact: I love when cake recipes call for oil over butter, butter is stapled in my mind as a luxury good so seeing an ingredient list that casually calls for 2 sticks of butter makes my jaw drop. Oil is pantry -and wallet- friendly.
It also uses lemons and winter is a perfect time to get all that citrus, this is their season to shine! If you really don’t like the spice + citrus combo you can easily omit the lemon zest and juice from the glaze and replace it with milk and cinnamon for a spiced glaze which would be equally delicious.
As far as cakes go, this one is actually calorie friendly at just a little over 200 calories a slice. The slices are also quite generous because even though 15 slices sounds like they’d be tiny slices they are actually bigger than my palm and quite thick. These glazed cakes would go so well with a cup of hot tea or coffee for a quick and casual snack or dessert.
I adapted this recipe from SAVEUR and they called these “bars” which just isn’t true. A bar is something I can eat while holding it in my hand, these require a fork and plate. Still it is a dang great cake and I hope you try it!
Just get your hands on persimmons and let them get all squishy and ripe. I stored mine the bottom drawer of my fridge for weeks and they held up great so don’t worry about using them right away if you buy them. Just keep them cold. I blended a whole bunch and have the rest of the puree in a mostly airtight plastic bag in my freezer just waiting for the day when I make this cake again.
I dedicate this recipe to my brother Roger who once threw an unripened persimmon at my face while we were walking home from school. That sh*t hurt and now every time I come across a persimmon I always send him a picture and remind him of the terrible thing he did. This delicious cake is all because of you bro.
Spiced Persimmon Cake with Tangy Lemon Glaze
Delicately spiced persimmon cake topped with a tangy and crunchy lemon glaze.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour measured correctly (Note 1)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger (Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp allspice (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup white sugar (Note 3)
- 1 cup pureed persimmons from 3 medium, very soft persimmons
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup finely chopped raisins can sub with dates
- 2 tbs lemon juice or half a lemon squeezed
- 1/2 cup canola oil
Lemon Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp lemon zest from half a lemon
- 2-3 tbs lemon juice from half a lemon
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay parchment paper onto a 10x15x1 inch cake pan/baking sheet. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, toss together with a large spoon or whisk. Measure out 1 cup persimmon puree in a large measuring cup, add the rest of the ingredients and mix all wet ingredients until well combined. Add wet to dry and mix just until combined! Pour batter onto parchment paper lined pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until cake is evenly browned on top. Remove and place on cooling rack for 15 minutes.
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While cake cools, make the glaze by whisking all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. If glaze is too powdery, add some more lemon juice. If glaze is too wet, add a bit more powdered sugar. Pour glaze onto cooled cake and spread with the back of a large spoon. Let glaze harden for 10 minutes. Cut cake into 15 squares (3×5). Serve then or store in fridge and serve cold. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe adapted from this Saveur recipe
Note 1: Use the spoon and level method to accurately measure flour. Just fill up the measuring cup with large spoonfuls of flour and then level it off with a flat butterknife. This prevents the flour from settling in too dense which can ruin a recipe.
Note 2: Make this cake your own and use your favorite spices! I don’t recommend taking out the cinnamon, but anything else can come and go.
Note 3: I would not replace the white sugar with brown sugar. The persimmon puree is already going to make this cake very moist, you do not need the extra moisture brown sugar provides.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1
Servings Per Container 15
Amount Per Serving
Calories 208
Calories from Fat 72.9
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8.1g
12%
Saturated Fat .6g
3%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 12.3mg
4%
Sodium 10.8mg
0%
Total Carbohydrate 32.9g
11%
Dietary Fiber 1g
4%
Sugars 17.3g
Protein 2.3g
5%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Life of Pisica
I bought a leash for my older cat, Big Kitty, this past year so I could take him outside. He loved eating grass and I loved watching him wander around the greenery, I used to joke that he was more like a cow than a cat. I said my final goodbye’s to him at the end of summer and this leash was just waiting to be used again. It’s now the go-to leash for Pisica when I wanna hang out with her on my balcony and eat breakfast during weekends. There has been a large learning curve but I really love this outdoor time with her.
