Persimmon Streusel Cake

by Unknown - November 10, 2017

The season of discounted Tesco persimmons is upon us.

Three years ago, Tesco sold them by the crates. Yes, that's right. The. Crate. I bought 7 and ate them all in a week.

No regrets.

So while I am the last person to just have uneaten persimmons lying around (i.e. I will eat them. All.), if you hoping to spice things up a bit (literally), make this cake.

It is:

(a) Spice-y (see above)

(b) Fluffy

Win, Win. Win!

The recipe may seem like a lot, making the batter, the persimmon paste, the crumble, the drizzle... But good things take time. And this, pals, is a very good thing.

Pinky promise.

Persimmon Streusel Cake

For the Cake:

1 cup soy milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup vegan butter (stork), melted

2 tablespoons hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup white sugar

For the Persimmon paste:

 2 large very ripe persimmons, cubed

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (depending on how ripe and sweet the persimmons are)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

For the Crumble:

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons rolled oats

Pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons vegan butter, melted

To drizzle (optional):

5 tablespoons icing sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 175C and grease and line an 8-inch square brownie tin. In a large bowl, mix the soy milk and vinegar together. Leave this for five minutes to allow the milk to thicken, then stir in the melted butter, hot water and vanilla. Mix this well. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, and sugar together. Fold this mixture of dry ingredients into the milk mixture, until just combined, taking care not to overmix.

To make the persimmon paste, place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until you get a smooth puree.

Pour own half of the cake mixture into the pan, and spread it around, flattening it with a spatula. Add in the persimmon paste, and use the spatula (clean it first!) to form a thin layer of paste over the cake batter layer. Top this with the remaining cake batter, spreading it around and flattening it for the third layer.

Finally, make the crumble. mix together all the crumble ingredients in a bowl until it starts to resemble breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this crumble all over the top of your prepared cake. Bake it in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until golden and a little toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set this aside to cool.

If you want to top this with a drizzle (which is yum), mix together the drizzle ingredients in a small bowl, then use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the cake when it is cool.