Persimmon Blondies

Just as I am figuring them out, persimmon season is coming to and end. I made these persimmon blondies from Vanilla Garlic last night. I have been meaning to make them for weeks. They were sooooo good. I love the light subtle flavor and unlike my Persimmon Spice Cake, I think I can actually taste the persimmon in these ones. When persimmons are out of season I may try and make these with mango as well. These really are good, did I mention that?

Persimmon Blondies
from Vanilla Garlic
Ingredients
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of allspice
1 cup of persimmon puree from (1 large hachiya persimmon)
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.
2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.
3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt, mix it all together.
4 Place the pulp from the hachiya persimmon into a food processor and puree. Add to the blondie mixture and whisk very well.
4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.
Makes 9 blondies.
Check out the cute little potholder I bought at the green holiday sale last weekend. Melissa over at Friends of Creamer's Field sells them. I am always checking out her crane ones as well. I just couldn't resist the little pigs.

Persimmon Cake with Spicy Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

It was so nice to spend the day puttering around my kitchen after a crazy week of frozen pizza and other not so great menu selections. The last two weeks I have had persimmons in my CSA and I have been trying to figure out what to do with them. I was at a party Friday night and many people there have the same CSA and we all agreed that the persimmons are very pretty, but nobody had used them yet. I searched the internet for a while and was inspired by this recipe for Persimmon Spice Cake. I wasn't really up for converting everything from grams to cups, so I decided to go out on a limb and make it up. I usually don't do this with baking, but now I am thinking I should do it more often. Once the cake was complete I decided it needed some frosting. This is very similar to carrot cake with a little zip. It is even better the next day. 

Persimmon Cake with Spicy Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients:
4 to 6 very ripe, soft persimmons, yeilding 1 1/4 cup pureed pulp
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp cinnamon (Vietnamese if you want an extra kick)
1/2 tsp each fresh nutmeg and ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp Grand Marnier

Frosting Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. Vietnamese Cinnamon (regular cinnamon will work, but not be as spicy)

1 tsp. Grand Marnier

Cake Directions:
Puree persimmons until smooth and strain through a mesh sieve. Stir in baking soda. Mix well. This will cause the persimmons to set to a hard gelatinous consistency. This is normal and kind of cool.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and persimmon mixture. Combine flour and spices and add to mixture. Blend well, stir in nuts and Grand Marnier. Spoon into a 9 inch greased cake pan. Bake at 350 for about 40 or more until knife comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting. 

Frosting Directions:

Beat cream cheese, and powdered sugar until well blended. Add Grand Marnier, and Cinnamon and blend until smooth and color is even throughout.