November ABC challenge: Persimmon Muffins

 This month's challenge was color.  I'm not sure I achieved it, but I tried.  Persimmons have a deep orange color that definitely warms up the color of the muffins.  The seed envelopes, which are a brighter orange color and showed up well in the raw batter, however, turned darker during baking, so are not visible.  But don't count out the bits of cranberry!

I love these muffins -- I've made them several times.  As I recall, the first time I made them I misread the quantity of persimmon pulp and used twice as much, but otherwise followed the recipe.  The results were dense and rich and chewy and incredibly delicious.  Since then, I have always included extra pulp (until today), but I've tinkered with the rest of the recipe considerably.  I really have to question the amount of sugar and butter in the original and whether I ever followed that instruction.  It's a lot!  Regardless, this is a great recipe no matter how it's done!  One of my favorites.

The recipe calls for 18 muffins, but I made 12.  My changes are in italics and strike out.  Here's what I used:

1 cup persimmon puree (preferably Hachiya)

1 1¹/₂ teaspoon baking soda

12 4 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

1¼ 1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons molasses 

2 eggs

1¹/₃ cup all-purpose flour (3/4 cup white, remainder whole wheat)

1/2 3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Zest of one orange or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

1 cup walnut pieces

3/4 cup currants dried, sweetened cranberries

Heat oven to 325 degrees; grease muffin tins* on the inside as well as the top edge of each cup.  In a small bowl, mix the persimmon puree with the baking soda; set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until mixture is creamy and smooth.  Add eggs and beat well.  Sift together the flours, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Add to the butter, along with the persimmon, and beat until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla, almond extract, lemon juice, and zest until combined, then stir in walnuts and cranberries.  Fill each muffin cup and bake 45 minutes, or until a wood pick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin. Remove from the muffin pans and let cool on racks.

*These are very delicate so difficult to remove cleanly. Try using paper or silicone muffin cups. 

I had to use vinegar in place of lemon juice, but that wouldn't have affected anything.  And I didn't have orange zest, so I used 1/2 teaspoon orange extract.  I used two defrosted persimmons that have been in my freezer for two years, unwrapped.  They turned into a liquid pool once they defrosted -- shapeless, deflated lumps of pulp in a sweet syrup.  I used only the pulp, but I lost flavor and sweetness by excluding the juice.  I probably should have added it, since it was original to the fruit, but the pulp was already so wet.

The batter is quite light and fluffy and seems like it would rise into stable, tall muffins, but actually they always come out flat-topped and looking a bit melted.  I overfilled the tins, which created a crispy/chewy ring where it overflowed -- delicious!  This time I had some trouble getting them out.  I had to break a piece of the outer ring off so I could get a knife down and pry them out.

Conclusion:  These are indescribably delicious, especially warm out of the oven.  As prepared, they are plenty sweet, and buttery enough to leave your fingers a little oily.  If made per the original recipe, I think they should probably be served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream!

Original recipe:  "Persimmon Muffins" via The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

Vegan Persimmon Apple cake

I'm not a fan of vegan baked goods, but this sounded doable. I did make some adjustments in the ingredients, and used a cakelet tin.

3/4 cup persimmon pulp (from one large persimmon)
1 large apple, peeled & cut into ½” dice
1/8 cup agave nectar
1/8 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger

1½ cups white whole wheat flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy yogurt or applesauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Oil a 8- or 9-inch baking dish or cake pan. Place the apple into a saucepan along with the 1/8 cup agave nectar, water, cinnamon, and ginger. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until the apple softens, about 10 minutes. Add the persimmon and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a large measuring cup or small bowl, mix together the water, orange juice, 1/2 cup agave nectar, cider vinegar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ones along with the soy yogurt or applesauce. Stir until well-moistened. Fold in apple mixture.  Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

I used half white flour and replaced the agave nectar with sugar. (3/4 cup of nectar equals 1 cup of sugar plus a little more liquid.) I also added a small amount of molasses, but was cautious because I didn't want to disrupt the acid/base balance. (I could probably use more molasses and skip the vinegar.) In place of the yogurt or applesauce, I used 2 tablespoons of plain oil and about two tablespoons of date paste. For extra flavor, because I doubted that small amount of orange juice would be noticeable, I added a splash (probably less than 1/8 teaspoon) of orange essence. One could also use the peel and/or use all orange juice and no water (although that also might disrupt the chemical balance.) I checked them at about 23 minutes and they seemed done.

The batter started reacting immediately, so the pan has to be ready to go as soon as the batter is mixed. I wanted to add nuts, but wasn't sure about the strength of the rise or whether they'd sink to the bottom. I think they would have been okay. These would benefit from some sort of topping because they're quite plain. Either sprinkling with cinnamon sugar before baking (or maybe during, just before they firm up) or a streusel... maybe that's where the nuts could go. The author used a decorative pan, which would help.

Conclusion: These were okay. They were too moist and a little gummy--- that could have been my fault. And perhaps they could have used a few more minutes baking. Even though I used half the whole wheat flour, I could detect an unpleasant graininess to them. The flavor was pretty good, not very spicy but very persimmony with bites of apple (I could have cooked the apples less), but I prefer the recipe from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book.

Recipe:  Fall Harvest Fruit Cake via Fat Free Vegan Kitchen