In November, we had a Persimmon Party. We had salad with persimmons and fennel; persimmon salsa, Couscous with Persimmons, cranberries, and hazelnuts; FUYU Cake with Grand Marnier Frosting; pot stickers and roasted pork. Well, the pot stickers and roasted pork did not have persimmon ingredients, but they were sure good.
FUYU persimmon is the non-astringent type. It looks like a squashed ball, like a fat saucer(??)
It is edible while it is still crunchy. You can taste some low level of tannin in some of the FUYU type as you bite close to the core. The best way to pick and eat the FUYU is when the outer skin is all evenly colored in deep orange, but not translucent. When peeled, I prefer it peeled, you will see lines of brown all around. I am not a food scientist, but I think they are concentration of sugar... like when banana starts to brown on the skin.
The original recipe to this cake with Grand Marnier Frosting calls for Cranberries. I decided to test with the FUYU persimmons. Chopped two small persimmons were just enough to make 2 cups. There are about 1/4 Cup of Grand Marnier in the Frosting. The cake is heavy and dense. It's almost in the category of pound cake or bread.
Makes 2 regular loaves or 6 mini loaves. Or use 1 Bundt Cake Pan plus 1 small loaf pan
12 servings per large loaf
Preheat oven to 330'F. Bake for 1 hr 10 min to 1 hr 15 min for large loaves & 60 min for mini loaves.
Ingredients:
1-1/2 C Unsalted Butter, Softened, plus more for buttering pan
1-1/2 C Sugar
4 Eggs
1 C Orange Juice
1 C Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Freshly Grated Orange Zest
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 C All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
(1-1/2 C Dried Cranberries - Optional)
2 C FUYU Persimmons - Chopped
2 C Powdered Sugar
7 to 8 Tbsp Grand Marnier
Methods:
1. Butter and dust loaf pans with flour
2.
Creaming Method: Medium speed, cream butter & sugar until fluffy and pale.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
4. Add Orange juice, source cream, orange zest, and Vanilla. Mix well until blended.
5.
Whisk Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whishk together Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt.
6.
Folding: Add Flour Mixture, Persimmons, into butter mixtures - Using the largest spatula you have in your kitchen, fold and turn, fold and turn until well blended, but do not overmix.
7. Pour the batter equally into the loaf pan.
BAKING:
8. Bake for 1 hr 10 min to 1 hr 15 min at 330'F or until the toothpick inserted in centers come out clean.
GRAND MARNIER GLAZE:
Whisk: In a small bowl, Whisk together Powdered Sugar and Grand Marnier slowly to watch for the consistency - Glaze should have consistency of thick syrup or corn syrup. If it is too thick, add additional liqueur.
COOLING & GLAZING:
Cool for 10 min, then remove and transfer to a cooking rack set over a large baking sheet. (Except that I was taking mine early morning to the office, so I left them in the pan.)
1. Using a long skewers of some sort, poke deep holes in tops of the cake. Drizze with Grand Marnier glaze to cover the entire cake & seeps through the holes.
2. Let the cakes cool completely, then slice and serve. (or wrap and freeze, if you would like.)
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