Mandarin juice cooked down to a syrup and drizzled over the cake has made this my new favourite.
Serves 10
3-4 persimmons, peeled, roughly diced
1 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
70g butter, softened
1½ cup brown sugar
½ cup caster sugar
250g flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ ground cardamom
Syrup
5 mandarins, zested and juiced
2 Tbsp sugar
4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
Method
Heat the oven to 180degC. Lightly grease an 18cm x 18cm cake tin with butter and baking paper.
Begin by making the persimmon pulp.
Add the prepared persimmons to a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Bring to the boil, then reduce and cook until the persimmons are very soft and pulpy (about 12 minutes).
Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
Add the pulp, softened butter and both sugars to a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
Sift the dry ingredients together and fold through the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
While the cake is cooking, make the mandarin syrup by putting the mandarin zest, juice, sugar, cardamom pods and a little water in a pot and heating until a syrup starts to form. This will take about 10 minutes. If it becomes too thick, add a little water. Set aside.
When the cake is cooked, prick the surface with a skewer and pour over the warm syrup. Allow it to soak in before cutting into it.