This luscious dessert contains rather a lot of fruit puree and ground almonds (if using) and whereas it isn’t the prettiest pudding on the planet and definitely needs as bit of tarting up before you serve it, it really is wonderful.

Ripe Fuyu persimmons have a sweet, rich, almost date-like consistency and after a couple of pulses in a food processor, they make a lovely purée that’s good enough to eat alone or over ice cream, no sweetener needed.

I’ve adapted this recipe from one I found in Saveur. I halved their recommended amount of sugar, replaced the flour with ground almonds and added crystallized ginger.

The result was a deliciously moist, sticky mess that also went down very well with my morning coffee.

Persimmon Ginger Pudding Cake

PERSIMMON & GINGER PUDDING CAKE

(Serves 8-10)

Ingredients

2 cups (480 ml measure) of pulp from approx 4 firm-ripe Fuyu persimmons

1 cup (240 ml measure) of sugar

2 eggs,  lightly beaten

1 ¹⁄₂ cups (360 ml) of buttermilk

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 ¹⁄₂ cups (360 ml measure) of all purpose flour (or ground almonds for a stickier result)

1 teaspoon of baking powder

¹⁄₂ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/3 cup (80 ml measure) of finely chopped crystallized stem ginger

A pinch of salt

¹⁄₄ cup (60 ml) of heavy cream

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup (80 ml measure) of finely chopped crystallized ginger

Powdered sugar to serve

Action:

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Carefully cut out the stalks then peel the persimmons with a potato peeler and cut them into chunks. Put the fruit  in a food processor and pulse until you have a thick purée. Transfer this to a bowl, add the sugar and stir until well blended then beat in the eggs.

In a separate small bowl, whisk the baking soda into the buttermilk and add this to the fruit mixture, folding everything together to combine well.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together. Gradually add to the fruit pulp, stirring until well combined then add the cream and chopped crystallized ginger. Mix thoroughly.

Brush a 9” x 13” (23 x 33 cm) baking pan with some of the melted butter and stir the rest into the fruit mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for approx 1 hour or until it’s a dark golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack.

To serve, dust with powdered sugar and add a dollop of crème fraîche along with a few slices of ripe, peeled persimmon.