Recipe: Top these spicy treats with orange icing
Orange icing tops these old-fashioned spiced cookies made with super-ripe persimmon pulp. Debbie Arrington
With ripe persimmons come persimmon cookies.
Off the tree, my Fuyus are quickly turning into sacks of jelly. That super-ripe pulp is perfect for making these old-fashioned drop cookies.
Angostura bitters intensifies the orange color of the dough as well as the fall flavors. The subtle icing tastes like orange but looks pale by comparison.
These cake-like treats can be served without icing or just a dusting of powdered sugar, too. Got lots of persimmon pulp? Make a double batch of cookies and keep some for later; these cookies freeze well.
Persimmon cookies with orange icing
Makes 3 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup persimmon pulp, pureed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
¼ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon Angostura bitters
1 cup raisins
For icing:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Scoop pulp out of persimmon and mash or puree. Stir in baking soda; set aside.
Sift together flour, salt and spices. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in egg until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and bitters.
Add persimmon pulp mixture to butter-sugar mixture. Stir in dry ingredients until just blended.
Rinse raisins with hot water. Drain well. Add to cookie dough.
Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. By rounded spoonful using two teaspoons, drop dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, allowing 2 inches of space between each cookie.
Bake in a 350-degree oven until golden brown on top, but still springy to the touch, about 13 to 14 minutes.
While cookies are baking, make icing: Melt butter. Add orange juice. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add a few drops more orange juice if needed.
Remove from the oven and let cool. Top with icing. Store in a covered, air-tight container.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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