Persimmon Almond Cake

I have a confession to make—I’ve been scared of persimmons. Fear of the unknown, I guess, even though they are beautiful and plentiful here in California. When I saw that we had some growing on our tree this year, I figured I’m going to have to do something with them. Nothing would be worse than wasting these gorgeous, bright orange fruits.

So I must admit, I’m pretty proud of this cake. Mainly because I took a recipe that didn’t have any persimmons in it and made it work. I’m excited to credit the excellent blog Mama’s Gotta Bake for the inspiration here. First of all, all of her recipes/creations make you want to lick your screen because of their obvious deliciousness. I’m so glad she lives an hour and a half away, because if I was anywhere near her house (not that I know where she lives, except in the Los Angeles area!) I’d keep stopping by and weigh about 300 pounds.

Then you look at the photography—I swear this woman works for Martha Stewart Living magazine as a stylist and photographer. EVERY photo is amazing—both in composition and lighting. Clearly, there’s not one shred of jealousy in my body. Not one. Nope.

Actually, there’s many shreds.

BUT it’s lovely to have her as one of my blog friends, and she does continue to inspire me. Most of her baked goodies are off my Paleo eating plan, but this almond cake she posted was right on target. Lots of eggs and no flour besides almond flour. For some reason, I thought I’d be able to substitute persimmons. There’s no rhyme or reason to why I thought so, except that pears and persimmons are in season at the same time. So I threw caution to the wind and tried it out.

First I had to do all sorts of research on whether or not these persimmons that had gone soft and squishy during our second October heatwave (Fall? Autumn? Hi!! We’re over here! Don’t be shy!) that prohibited me from turning on the oven. Result! They hadn’t gone bad, they were perfect for adding to my cake.

Then I had to make a few changes to the recipe. I used butter to grease my pan—sorry Mama, I just can’t bring myself to use PAM spray, ever. I also used butter and brown sugar instead of oil and honey for the topping, as The Husband is not a fan of honey. But otherwise, I followed Mama’s recipe, and while it baked in the oven (at 9pm, when it finally cooled off enough to turn the oven on!), I fretted.

The Husband was excited to try it, but I was apprehensive. What if it sucked? What if I just wasted eight eggs and $10-worth of almond flour? I’m a bit of a brag when it comes to my baking skills, and usually when it doesn’t turn out, there’s a ton of swearing in the kitchen. Like when I made the foccacia that The Husband said, “Yeah, don’t bother putting that one on the blog.”

Ouch.

It came out of the oven. It did smell like it turned out pretty well…. We let it cool (for only 15 minutes and nothing bad happened when I cut into it in half the time Mama recommended) and had a small slice—it was almost 10:30 by this time. And, oh my goodness, it tasted delicious.

It tasted as if there was a hint of cinnamon in there, but there wasn’t. I guess that’s the persimmon flavor coming through, but it made me want to add some to the topping next time.

If you want the recipe, head on over to Mama’s Gotta Bake, because if I post it here it’s just plagiarism, even with the substitutions. Besides, you know you want to see some of her other awe-inspiring baked goods, don’t you?

Believe me, you do. You really, really do.

Related articles

• Persimmon Upside Down Cake (beyondgumbo.com)
• Spiced Persimmon Tea Cake (groupspoon.com)

Tags: Martha Stewart Living, paleo almond cake, paleo cake, paleo dessert, paleo persimmon dessert, Persimmon