An Alternative to the Great Pumpkin - Persimmon Spice Bread

I am lucky enough to have a persimmon tree in my front yard. Persimmons are strange little fruit that take FOREVER to ripen. If you pluck a green one from the tree early in the summer and bite into it, it will suck all the saliva from your soul. Seriously. But if you wait for them to turn orange then more and more orange until the skin begins to take on the transparency and delicacy of a tomato then you are in for a treat. Like I said they are a strange little fruit, tomato-y in texture but with the sweet, mellow flavor of a fig crossed with a pear (at least in my opinion.)

They make lovely bread and muffins and even martinis as recently featured on the wonderful blog Lisa is Cooking. It was a little too early in the day (10 am) for me to make martinis with mine so I chose a quick bread recipe from All Recipes, added some orange zest and ground cloves, and ate a warm slice covered in butter.

Persimmon Spice Bread
* Adapted from All Recipes
* This bread does get a little dark around the edges. Don't fear - this is normal, yet be sure to not over bake.
* You could probably substitute pumpkin for the persimmons if they are not available to you.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 cup persimmon pulp (skin and seeds removed)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried cranberries
zest of 1 orange

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a 9 x 4 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt, nuts, and cranberries.

In a large bowl, blend eggs, sugar, and oil. Mix baking soda into pulp, and add to sugar mixture. Fold in flour mixture. Finally stir in orange zest being careful to not over mix. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 55 minutes then test for doneness by inserting a sharp knife (it should come out free of wet batter.) If not ready, return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes and check again.