I am so sad to see this weekend fly away so fast! Luckily I finished more than half our Christmas cards and placed thm in the mail! When I started looking at our calandar I realized that I barely have much time before I head to Texas to visit my family.
The next 10 days are filled with recitals and concerts for the holiday season. This not only means being busy but it also means being away from home too! I took advantage of cooking so nice warm meals this weekend knowing that leftovers were probably going to be the best thing for our busy schedules.
What about workouts? Well, I went to Zumba on Saturday despite the fact that my favorite instructor was going to be gone. I am sorry but once I get used to an instructor it is hard to have others teach you especially if they are not better than your own instructor. It seems like everyone is wanting to become a Zumba instructor but that means instructors having previously taught aerobics or other technique THINK that this is what Zumba is about.
I need to vent folks. If someone does not know how to move their hips or what a specific dance is, DON”T pretend to KNOW it. You look silly. I was embarassed for the last instructor only because Zumba was being taught like it was NOT Zumba. So there. This is the end of my venting. Looks like I am going to have to get my dose of REAL Zumba while I am in Houston.
This past weekend I worked on a fantastic recipe. I recently partnered with Specialty Produce which is a company that supplies fresh produce. The lovely folks sent me some wonderful produce to try out and to create recipes. How fun is that? I received some great apples I have not tasted before and some kaffir limes. I immediately decided to use my persimmons because I have been on that kick.
Specialty Produce has added my Tropical Persimmon Muffins to their persimmon page of info and it is wonderful to see people coming to visit your site when a certain fruit is in-season. People left and right are trying to figure out what to do with these beauties. Before this year, I hardly knew what to do with them.
Tomorrow I will feature a Persimmon Smoothie, so stay tuned!
On Friday evening I set my heart on making a crumb coffeecake. I checked out different recipes online and made sure mine was unique especially since it had to be vegan.
I decided to combine candied ginger with Fuyu persimmons, so I chopped these items up and cooked them in some Earth Balance and added some lemon and orange juice along with some spices.
Now I know that normally one would use all-purpose flour for a crumb coffeecake but I wanted mine to be healthy so I used whole wheat / white flour. I was happy that I did because the flavors were perfect.
This Persimmon Ginger Crumb Coffeecake is very moist and wonderful. I gave most of it away to folks at the gym or to friends from church and the feedback was wonderful. They all agreed that while the cake was moist, that it was a very delicious and unique cake. Score!
Persimmon Ginger Crumb Coffee Cake
veganized and adapted from Emeril Lagasse’s recipe
print recipe
12-14 servings (using a 9×13 pan)
Buttermilk
1 1/2 cups So Delicious coconut milk
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Butter / sugar mixture
1 cup coconut crystals, maple sugar, date sugar, or agave nectar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 stick (1/2 cup) Earth Balance, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 flax eggs (3 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 9 Tbsp warm water) (set aside for 5 minutes)
Dry ingredients
3 1/2 cups whole wheat / white flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
Wet ingredients
3 cups Fuyu persimmons (about 6) peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup candied ginger, minced and chopped
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon dried orange peel
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1/4 cup maple syrup
Crumble
1/2 cup whole wheat / white flour
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) Earth Balance, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup candied ginger, minced and chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut crystals or maple sugar)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch rectangle pan. 
In a medium-size saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter on medium heat. Add all the wet ingredients to the pan. Saute’ the mixture for 5 minutes, or until softened. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the 1 stick of Earth Balance, the coconut sugar, and maple syrup with an electric mixer. (from the butter / sugar mixture). Add the vanilla extract. Add the flax eggs and beat well.
Into a medium-size mixing bowl, sift all the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture, buttermilk, and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat with the electric mixer until everything is incorporated.
Crumble
In another medium-size mixing bowl, combine the crumble ingredients (except the minced ginger and walnuts) and using a pastry cutter process until it resemble wet sand. You can also use the food processor too. Add the minced ginger and walnuts and mix well)
Assembly
Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Spread the persimmon mixture over the batter. 
Drop heaping spoonfuls of the remaining batter over the persimmon mixture, about 1-inch apart. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the surface. Put the cake pan on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. 
Cut into slices and serve warm. Great at room temperature too!
