Persimmon & Thyme Skillet Cake. 🌿🧡 This cake is extremely easy to make and it tastes like fall in Appalachia. Earthy (thanks thyme), sweet, and filled with all the warmth you can imagine. The addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger really lends to driving that “fall taste” home (and right into my belly).
Persimmons are a fruit found wild in Appalachia when the chill returns to the air! If you’re lucky you might even have one growing in your back yard! We do not, but a friend brought us a large bag full from their property. They are a small fruit with large seeds.
Despite having many large seeds per small fruit they have shockingly low germination rate! Fun fact - we wouldn’t have persimmons without raccoons! Once eaten and digested by the raccoon the seed becomes significantly more likely to produce a tree!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 stick of unsalted butter (at room temperature) + more for greasing
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup persimmons (seeds & stems removed)
1 tbs fresh thyme
Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and side of the cast iron pan with butter. Place 2 tbs butter in the pan and set aside.
In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy and color has lightened slightly. Add in the eggs and beat until combined. Add in the bourbon. Slowly add in the flour mixture making sure not to add too much at once. Mix until just combined. Carefully fold in the persimmon and thyme until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Place the skillet with butter in the oven and allow skillet to get warm and butter to get bubbly.
Pour the batter carefully into the hot skillet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Allow to cool slightly before enjoying!