Persimmon Cake

This fall I've been searching for a few things. Every year there are always a couple new plants that have me craning my neck as we careen around the countryside. Serviceberry, autumn olive, and wild persimmon are starring in the role this year.
Well! Last week our brother went into the hospital again, but because of his status on the transplant list he went to a different hospital. We were sort of pre-occupied on the trip home on Friday, and passed our road, managing to sort of get lost.

That's how we found the persimmons.

I popped them into the freezer to be sure they were sweet, and peeled and seeded them. Today I was going to make cookies and looked over some recipes on line, printing one off.
When I cleaned the persimmons, I kept some of the seeds. Each one had one seed. A couple had 2.
There I am in the kitchen, getting started. Ok. It calls for no sugar. That's odd. Both sugar and eggs are in the instructions, but they aren't listed in the recipe.
This is where we go "off road". I figure it is probably a cup of sugar. I only have 1/2 cup - but there is some brown sugar. Since they talk about "eggs", I figure there must be at least 2.
I also don't have any nutmeg. Oh hush. Here's the recipe I came up with, and it is delicious (cake batter is ready to go into the oven below - it's sort of stiff). Moist, dense, and spicy... yum! I would probably add 1 tsp of vanilla extract next time, and maybe a ripe banana or some ginger. Walnuts would be nice. Probably a tsp of salt, too. Either way, it is really good. We might need to get lost again. Looks like he'll be in a while, maybe I should just harvest and freeze!

Persimmon Cake
1/2 cup shortening (coconut oil is good)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp crushed cardamom seeds

Grease an 8" x 8" baking dish. Set oven for 350.
Cream shortening in a mixing bowl with the sugars, beating well. Add eggs and persimmon, and mix well. Add dry ingredients slowly, and the spices, and mix until well blended (I used a mixer).
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until top is firm to the touch. Cake will be a medium brown.
Ummm...ummmm..mmmmmmmmmm. That's good stuff! Maryanne thinks cream cheese frosting would be perfect, while I think a little whipped cream would be nice. It isn't bad at all "chust so".