This year my small persimmon tree has been incredibly generous, giving us over 60 kg of fruits. Jam didn’t inspire me, so I decided to experiment with some desserts. After several searches and some tests in the kitchen, I found a recipe that completely won me over: the persimmon and amaretti cake. At first glance, it may seem like an unusual combination, but trust me, the cocoa ties the flavors perfectly, creating a surprising and truly irresistible balance.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp butter
- lemon zest (grated)
- 2 cups cups persimmon (pulp)
- 3 1/2 oz amaretti (crumbled)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 packet baking powder
Tools
- Mixer
- Springform Pan
Preparation
To prepare the persimmon cake, start with the fruits. Partially peel them and, using a spoon, extract the pulp until you have 500 grams, then set it aside.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar and grated lemon zest. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the yolks until you get a fluffy mixture.
Add the sifted flour and baking powder and work for about a minute. Then add the melted butter and cocoa, mixing well.
Add the persimmon pulp and work with the mixer until you obtain a fairly homogeneous mixture; if there are a few whole pieces left, it’s completely normal.
Crumble the amaretti into coarse pieces by hand and fold them into the mixture with a spatula or spoon.
Butter and flour a round mold of 22 or 24 cm, pour the batter in, and bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 40 minutes. Do the toothpick test, and if it comes out dry, turn off the oven and leave the cake inside for another 15 minutes or so.
Remove from the oven and unmold the cake only when it is completely cool.
Advice
Since persimmons and amaretti are very sweet, you can also reduce the amount of sugar. In the original recipe, 100 g of sugar were provided, but I reduced it to 70 g and, for my taste, I could have reduced it even more. Of course, it all depends on the sweetness of the persimmons.
The cake keeps for 2 days under a glass bell.
