Persimmon bread
Dec. 20th, 2014 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desperance[This is my take on David Lebovitz'z take on James Beard's original, so.]
I weighed and measured everything this time, in order to be able to tell you that you need:
250g plain flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
200g sugar
110g melted unsalted butter
2 large eggs, beaten
80g brandy
275g persimmon puree*
125g toasted pecans
150g Medjool dates, destoned and cut into chunks
[*Note: you need hachiya persimmons, the heart-sized heart-shaped ones; and you need them so squishily ripe they feel like water balloons. Two might be enough, whizzed up in a food processor; you might need three; you'll probably want somewhere between the two. But if you find ripe hachiya persimmons, your best bet is to buy a lot, puree 'em all and freeze what you don't use for later consumption. We are blessed with a friend with a tree, and even so I am backfilling my freezer. The season is short, but art is longing**.]
Oil or butter a loaf tin (I use almond oil for preference for all sweet baking).
Preheat the oven to 350/180/gas mark 4.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the butter, eggs, brandy and puree; mix those in, then fold in the nuts and the dates.
Pour the batter into the ready tin, stand it on a baking tray for fear of overspill and slide it into the mid/top of the oven. Check it after an hour; I find it needs ten minutes more than that, until a metal skewer comes out clean. (Don't rely on the touch-the-skewer-to-your-lip-and-it's-ready-when-it-burns-you trick; it won't actually get that hot.)
Cool in the tin. It keeps well if it's well wrapped in tinfoil; it should also freeze well.
**Persimmon puree is my Thing of the Moment. I put it in everything from ground beef curry to salad dressings. More to come.
I weighed and measured everything this time, in order to be able to tell you that you need:
250g plain flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
200g sugar
110g melted unsalted butter
2 large eggs, beaten
80g brandy
275g persimmon puree*
125g toasted pecans
150g Medjool dates, destoned and cut into chunks
[*Note: you need hachiya persimmons, the heart-sized heart-shaped ones; and you need them so squishily ripe they feel like water balloons. Two might be enough, whizzed up in a food processor; you might need three; you'll probably want somewhere between the two. But if you find ripe hachiya persimmons, your best bet is to buy a lot, puree 'em all and freeze what you don't use for later consumption. We are blessed with a friend with a tree, and even so I am backfilling my freezer. The season is short, but art is longing**.]
Oil or butter a loaf tin (I use almond oil for preference for all sweet baking).
Preheat the oven to 350/180/gas mark 4.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the butter, eggs, brandy and puree; mix those in, then fold in the nuts and the dates.
Pour the batter into the ready tin, stand it on a baking tray for fear of overspill and slide it into the mid/top of the oven. Check it after an hour; I find it needs ten minutes more than that, until a metal skewer comes out clean. (Don't rely on the touch-the-skewer-to-your-lip-and-it's-ready-when-it-burns-you trick; it won't actually get that hot.)
Cool in the tin. It keeps well if it's well wrapped in tinfoil; it should also freeze well.
**Persimmon puree is my Thing of the Moment. I put it in everything from ground beef curry to salad dressings. More to come.