Spiced persimmon slice (wagashi)

20 Servings

Ingredients

QuantityIngredient
2cupsPersimmon pulp
½Lemon, Juice and zest of
3cupsWholemeal flour
3teaspoonsBaking powder
2teaspoonsBaking soda
3teaspoonsCinnamon, ground
2teaspoonsNutmeg, ground
1dashReal vanilla
¼teaspoonCloves, ground
1cupBrown sugar
3largesEgg whites or egg replacer for 2 eggs
cupApplesauce or prune puree (or pumpkin which gives a nice colour...)
½cupCurrants or other dried fruit (cranberries or cherries are good)
1teaspoonVanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Beat egg whites or replacer, add to pulp, then add liquids and dried fruit. Do not over mix or it will be like rubber! Mix dry ingredients into pulp mixture.

Pour batter into a large well sprayed 'slice' or brownie tin. Bake for about one hour or until done. Watch closely! The result should be moist and somewhat heavy. A friend in Australia makes the same thing with mangoes - sounds divine! She also adds ¼ cup of wheatgerm.

I too love Japanese sweets and would love some recipes: particularly for namagashi (moist confections) like manju, daifuku, ohagi, sakuramochi. I found a mail order site "www.wagashi.com" for the US. (I have no commercial interest and have never tried them. However they seem pretty expensive).

Posted to fatfree digest V97 #030 by yogi@... (Michael & Laura) on Mar 18, 1997