When your kids have been gone 30 years, and still ask you to make these delicious treats, you know they’re pretty good.  Something about homemade coffee cake and persimmon pudding brings back joyful memories of past holidays.   I’ve posted these traditional recipes before, but am sharing them again in case you missed them.   I hope your guests enjoy these family favorite holiday recipes.

Persimmon pulp is now available in most upscale grocery stores.  You can even order it over the internet.  It’s a bit pricey compared to the good old days, but it sure beats looking for a persimmon tree and spending all day making pulp.

Not everyone likes persimmon pudding, but for those that do, it’s a rare treat, especially when served with whipped cream.  There are other persimmon recipes that give you a dessert with  the texture of a brownie or cake, so you might look those up on the internet if you think you would like that better.

 

PERSIMMON PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

2 cups persimmon pulp

½  cup melted butter

1 cup milk

1 cup half and half (it’s okay to use milk)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

1  1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp  allspice

 

Mix pulp, eggs.  sugar, melted butter and milk.  Mix dry ingredients separately.  Then combine both mixtures. Stir well. Pour into greased 9 X 13 inch pan and bake for one hour at 325 degrees.  Stir several times while pudding is baking so that it won’t harden at edges of pan.

*********************************************************************************************

I first tasted this  rich, flaky, coffee cake roll while living in Chicago,  when a German  neighbor brought it to a kaffeeklatsch in our building.    I had always avoided recipes with yeast, because they required a lot of kneading and the problem was, you might either over knead or under knead, and that would ruin the whole thing.

But this  was so easy that I made it every year on Christmas and Easter for the next four decades.  Friends and family asked for the recipe, and soon, they were claiming it as their own.

 

 

RICH FLAKY COFFEE CAKE ROLL

INGREDIENTS:

1 package active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

¾ cup warm milk

3 egg yolks

4 cups flour

2 sticks (1/2 cup) cold margarine

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

FILLING:

1 stick margarine

1 cup powdered sugar

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

ICING:

¾ cup powdered sugar

Enough milk to make a thin paste

DIRECTIONS:

In separate bowl: dissolve yeast in warm water according to package directions; add  egg yolks and warm milk.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and sugar.  Using your hands, mix in margarine until you have pea-sized pieces ( as if you are making pie dough),

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth. Do not knead. Cover dough and refrigerate overnight.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Roll each portion into a 13 X 9 inch rectangle.  Stir filling  ingredients until fluffy.  Spread over rectangles. Roll up jell-roll style, starting with a long side.

Place rolls  seam side down at the edges of a 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Cover and let sit until doubled, about 3 hours. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until brown.  Make icing and frost the cakes while they are still warm..