Sunset Magazine's Fuyu Persimmon Bundt Cake

Sunset Magazine's Fuyu Persimmon Bundt Cake

Containing fuyu persimmons, walnuts, golden raisins and lots of spices, my co-worker called it "Fall on a plate"

This is a Sunset Magazine recipe classic. (For those outside the Western U.S. states, Sunset Magazine is a gardening, lifestyle, cooking, home, and travel mag for those "living in the west." It's not pretentious and has some really good tips for West Coast gardeners who get all confused when looking at a pack of seeds and read "plant after first frost." What frost?) You can find a bunch of yummy recipes on their website!

And one of the perks of working in the library? I have a backlog and index to Sunset! I found a bunch more persimmon recipes from the 1970's and 80's! This recipe is from the Oct 1978 issue of Sunset. The article "Spicy cake flecked with persimmon" says the crisp (fuyu) persimmon is gaining in popularity! The Crisp Persimmon Cake recipe was submitted by E.F. of Palo Alto, CA.

The recipe for the Fuyu Bundt Cake is on the California Fuyu Grower's Association (CaliFuyu) website (I want to become their spokesperson and promote the delicious fuyu!) Get this super easy recipe here (Updated 10/2015 - I heard the link is dead so I inserted the recipe below).

3 cups chopped fuyu persimmons (see this post for the difference between the fuyu and hachiya persimmons). The recipe says to add 2 teaspoons baking soda to the fruit and set aside. I've never seen this method before...does it help the baking soda dissolve? Anyone know?

Mega spices: 1 t ground cloves (this is very powerful and you could cut this a bit if you want), 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg...with 2 cups flour, 1 t baking powder, 1 t salt. I used 1 c walnuts and 3/4 c golden raisins.

The batter also include 1 stick butter, 1 2/3 c sugar, 2 eggs, 2 t lemon juice and 2 t vanilla.

I thought the finished cake looked a little, well, plague-y. I thought about dusting it with powdered sugar but then I saw my bottle of maple syrup and made a glaze of powdered sugar (about 1 cup) and maple syrup.

Fuyu Persimmon Bundt Cake

Fuyu Persimmon Bundt Cake Recipe

Adapted from Sunset Magazine. Also appears in Cake Simple by Christie Matheson

Ingredients: 

3 cups firm Fuyu persimmons (about 3 persimmons), chopped (NOT Hachiya persimmons)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup or 1 stick or 4 ounces butter, softened

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup walnuts, chopped

3/4 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare 12-cup Bundt pan by spraying it with baking spray or greasing and flouring the pan. (My favorite Bundt pans are Nordic Ware and my favorite baking spray is Bak-Klene brand)

3. Fruit: In a medium bowl, mix the chopped fuyu persimmons with 2 teaspoons baking soda. Set aside.

4. Dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

5. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.

6. With the mixer on slow speed, add the fruit mixture into the batter. 

7. On slow speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until blended. It's okay if it's not fully blended as you'll fold the last ingredients next. 

8. Fold in the walnuts and raisins. The batter will be thick.

9. Pour batter into Bundt pan. Smooth the top.

10. Bake for 55-60 minutes until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

11. Cool in the Bundt pan for 15 minutes then invert onto cooling rack and let cool.