Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins

Back in January when the last ditches of the holidays were at the market, I bought a Hachiya persimmon. I considered making a persimmon pudding... a persimmon BBQ sauce... a persimmon vinaigrette...  until I peeled and tasted it.



I had eaten persimmons as a kid. The property in Marietta where I grew up had a native persimmon tree. Every fall we would scrounge through the leaves looking for those soft, date-like fruits. Scraping the sticky fragrant fruit off the pod, we'd crack the almond shaped seed with our teeth to see the prize. Unlike Hachiya persimmons, American persimmons have a large - semi firm pit in the center. If the pit is split open, there between the halves would be the beginning of a new persimmon tree. These new sprouts would look like silver settings.... sometimes you would get a knife and fork...sometimes just a spoon... and on very rare occasions.. a full set...knife, fork, spoon. I'm still not entirely sure if we ate them because of the fruit..or just to see what was inside.



The Hachiya persimmon didn't have a pit... or quaint little silver setting... it was just a bag of overly sweet, slimy goo - and I have some serious textural issues. I plopped the mess in a bag, froze it and promptly forgot about it.



Until yesterday when I cleaned out the freezer. I decided it was time to either do something with it... or throw it out.

Doing some research, I found that most of the recipes for persimmon anything were heavily spiced. Then I thought about gingerbread... then I wondered if I could substitute the cloying pulp as molasses in a gingerbread recipe.

The result is a light,  almost cake-like textured gingerbread, with a creamy color. There is enough of the persimmon flavor coming though to offset the heavy spice.



Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Shortening

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 Cup Persimmon Puree

3 Cups Sifted Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 1/2 Teaspoons Fresh Grated Ginger

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Allspice

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 Cup Very Hot Water

1/2 Cup Chopped Raisins

1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

Mixing Bowls

Stand Mixer

MuffinTin

Cream together the shortening and sugar. 
Beat in egg, then molasses. 
Into a separate container, sift together dry ingredients; stir into molasses mixture. 
Gradually add hot water, beating until smooth. 
Stir in raisins and pecans
Line muffin pans with paper baking cups - fill about full with batter. 
Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes, or until muffins test clean