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Lemon pairs with ripe persimmon for flavorful muffins

Recipe: Lemon-persimmon muffins with lemon glaze

A light lemon glaze is the finishing touch for these delicious muffins.

A light lemon glaze is the finishing touch for these delicious muffins. Debbie Arrington

This muffin is a crossover treat, combining a late fall fruit with the first fruit of winter.

Muffin ingredients
Lemon and persimmon make surprisingly good
partners in baked goods.

My homegrown Fuyu persimmons are finally at that super-ripe, sack-full-of-jelly stage needed for baked goods – just in time for my first ripe lemons of citrus season.

Put together, these two fruits complement each other – especially with the luscious fresh lemon glaze. Studded with chopped dates (or raisins), these moist muffins are sweet enough without the topping, too. They’re perfect for on-the-go breakfast or a mid-afternoon snack. With the glaze, they also can be a dessert.

As with all muffins, stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture just enough to moisten; otherwise, the muffins can be tough.

Lemon-persimmon muffins with lemon glaze

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2/3 cup persimmon pulp, pureed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup chopped dates or raisins (optional)

1 large egg

½ cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted and cooled

1 tablespoon lemon zest, grated

For glaze:

1 tablespoon butter

Juice of ½ lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

Zest from ½ lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare muffin tin; either grease cups or line with paper or silicone liners.

In a bowl or large mixing cup, combine persimmon pulp with lemon juice. Stir in baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in chopped dates or raisins, if desired. Set aside.

Muffins in pan, no glaze
These muffins are also good unglazed,
fresh out of the oven.

In another bowl, lightly beat egg with a fork. Add sugar, then milk. Fold in melted butter. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon zest, then persimmon pulp-lemon juice mixture.

Add persimmon mixture all at once to flour mixture, stirring just enough to moisten flour. Batter will be lumpy.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, about two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees about 15 to 20 minutes until muffin tops are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Remove muffins from the oven and let cool on a rack.

Prepare glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add lemon juice and zest. Remove from heat and add sifted powdered sugar. Beat by hand until smooth and desired consistency. Add a little more lemon juice to thin if needed.

Glaze muffins, if desired. Store covered and refrigerated.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 2

During this stormy week, let the rain soak in while making plans for all the things you’re going to plant soon:

* During rainy weather, turn off the sprinklers. After a good soaking from winter storms, lawns can go at least a week without sprinklers, according to irrigation experts. For an average California home, that week off from watering can save 800 gallons.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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