Peremptorily Plump Persimmon Pudding (Cake)

This weekend, I am moved once again to write about yet another neighborly gift turned tasty treat. Several nights ago, while watering my garden - I heard a kind "hello" coming from the sidewalk. Our neighbors from down the street who had given me that giant pink banana squash came by to say hello. This is the first time I've seen them since our introduction. They asked me if I like persimmons and I happily replied that I do. Well, these kind folks said that they would be by tomorrow night with some persimmons for me. I felt so lucky! I also immediately started to think about what I could give them? After a brief online conversation with Ms. E.T. herself - we came to the conclusion that I should give them some cherry preserves produced from a previous cherry picking excursion that E.T. and I conducted.

The next evening, around the same time, the husband came by the house with a bag FULL of persimmons: 3 ripe hachiyas and many more of the fuyu. I ran back inside the house to grab my jar of preserves - I was so happy to give something back!

boo bear really seemed to appreciate the persimmons

vanilla, flour, baking powder and soda, walnuts, eggs, milk,
butter, and of course, persimmon pulp

I ended up finding a recipe for persimmon pudding cake that sounded pretty good and decided that I should give that a try! It was perfect for my 3 ripe hachiyas. It's a very simple recipe and I am proud to report that only a few snags occurred along the way. There is not a size requirement in the recipe for the square glass pan - and I was not keen on putting the mixture in a pan that was too large or too small. So I decided to compromise and split the mixture between two cooking pans. About half-way through the baking process, I noticed a whole lot of smoke coming from the top of the oven. Nothing smelled burnt - but boy was there smoke! I opened the oven door to see that my pudding cakes were both a good inch or so above the rim of the pan - and juices were spilling out onto the foil I had (thankfully) lined on the bottom of the oven. I made the decision to just keep keeping' on and to open up some extra windows/doors around the house to manage the smoke. This recipe was going to work, damn it!

After waiting a couple minutes beyond the suggested time - I took out the two items and left them on the cooling rack. They looked pretty good, especially that pool of butter that was swimming around the center of both cakes.

note: the butter pool and the plumpness of the
out of oven experience

Fifteen minutes later and my pudding cakes were super-deflated, but my happiness was not. I figured that a pudding cake is probably not too different from a bread pudding - so a deflated cake was still an acceptable cake in my book.

no more butter pools and mr. rectangle cake
in the back is severely deflated

I'd probably use a bit less butter in the recipe next time, it's a bit overwhelming on the soggier portions of the cake - ya know, probably those parts that absorbed the previous pool of butter? I'll probably also use that large glass pan next time too, rather than these deeper, smaller dishes I used today. But, despite some slightly overwhelming butter bites, the cake is good and is none too sweet either!

all is yummy on the Katy front...

Early Dawning, Sunday Morning...

After my requisite cup(s) of coffee, some hummingbird field recording, and a little bit of reading, my tummy began to call out for some morning nourishment.

ready to serve

Quick and Easy Swiss Chard Scramble (Serves Two):
Eggs beat with cream, fresh ground pepper, and paprika
Cubes of aged cheddar
Swiss Chard harvested minutes before slicing - stems sliced into quarter inches, leaves very casually chopped (really just sliced a couple times)
Two small (rather garlicky) shallots harvested last weekend diced
Handful of cherry tomatoes sliced in two
Olive oil

harvested shallots

prepped ingredients

Heat pan, add olive oil, add shallots and chard stems. 3 minutes. Add tomatoes. 1 minute. Add chard leaves. 1 minute. Reduce heat and add eggs. Slowly turn the eggs, keeping them moist and cooking slowly on low heat. Add the cheddar last. The slow/low heat gives me time to take care of the toast, wash out the prep bowls, and keeps the eggs from overcooking or burning. Quick and easy way to add some extra veggies to my favorite breakfast item: eggs! The hubby seemed to enjoy the end product.

Tart, My Sweet

Toe (as in Term Of Endearment) was out for the night. What was I to do with the place to myself? I knew the answer before the final, upturned syllable of inquiry had a chance to manifest: yummy asparagus-spinach pesto and banana tarte tatin. My tart looked nothing like the Saveur photo. It baked as a blob in the middle of the dish. Caramel bubbled from underneath like a burnt sea beyond the reach of my banana-pastry island.

It was my first time making caramel—and my second, after burning the first batch. The kitchen pursuit, gone awry, took on something of a Keystone Kops quality. Having heard horror stories of burned caramel, but not remembering what those actual stories were, I feared it might ruin my pan. I was afraid to leave the goo, but equally afraid to pour it down the drain. I couldn’t find a paper bag and grabbed a plastic one to dump the liquefied sugar. It was not my finest synaptic firing. The bag melted and caramel glopped to the floor. Scooping it up with paper towels, I made contact with the pile where pinkie meets palm. I peeled the caramel from my skin, which gave way to a red burn that blistered in short time. The bag had melted, not from caramel, but from the pan. Deep as I was into the culinary expedition I’d embarked on—the pesto was well under way—I wasn’t about to tuck my tail and pack up shop. There would be tart by night’s end. I methodically removed the bits of plastic glued to the bottom of my cookware, and began round two of caramel production.

I had lost my groove. I kept ice tucked in hand and hid the burn from steaming pots. I spilled more caramel on the stove, counters, and floor. Pushing air out of the sugar bag, I puffed a cloud of granules onto my face and kitchen fixtures. By the time I noticed my sandals tracking sugar into the living room, the obligatory post-cook cleaning had already doubled. Have I mentioned I don't actually like caramel? Oy vey.

With camera batteries charging in the other room, I forgot to photograph the folly. Toe returned home, and we dug into the pan without getting a snap or shot. Naturally, I recreated the banana blob this weekend for a photo op. Despite my best-worst efforts, it looked relatively nice. While at it, I also made a peach-raspberry galette. And even though I unknowingly turned off the oven, instead of resetting the built-in timer, the tarts were tasty.

Lessons and Notes

Peach-Raspberry Galette
It was a busy weekend so I used premade dough. I evaded blanching and pitting with well-drained canned peaches. I then:

• Hand-mixed the peaches with almond extract, ground clove and nutmeg. I chose almond over vanilla since peaches are a stone fruit.
• Spread raspberry jam because my desired fig jam was not an available option.
• Sprinkled the layered peaches with almonds (because we had them).
• Served with roasted banana gelato.

Banana Tarte Tatin
The tarte tatin story more-or-less goes: The Tatin sisters ran an eponymous hotel. An overworked sister stumbled upon the upside-down tart by throwing a crust on top of the baking apples of her flubbed pie.

Recipe Notes:

• I’ve been substituting dried lemon peel for orange zest.
• When pouring caramel, hustle but don’t fret. Hardened clumps in the baking dish will remelt and spread while baking.
• Lacking a 7.5 x 12 dish, I used a 9 x 13. This was too big. My 8 x 8 would have been better.
• Paired with blackberry rum sorbet. Flipping the tart, bananas up, is a prettier way to serve. I keep forgetting this.

Safety & Cleanliness:

• Hot caramel burns, and it quickly adheres to skin as it cools and hardens. Do not touch hot caramel.
• The quick-cooling caramel spills seem easier to scrape up after they harden.