Sharon fruit are also known as persimmons. They are used to flavour and colour these delicious cake slices. You can also use this recipe to make cupcakes, if you prefer. Serve as a snack or with a cup of tea or coffee.
To make sharon fruit pulp, simmer the sharon fruit for 5-10 minutes in a heavy-based saucepan with a lid over low heat. Stir the mixture often, adding just enough fruit juice to prevent burning. Cool the mixture, then process in a food processor until pureed. You will get one part pulp from two parts whole sharon fruit.
Very easy to prepare - my 3 yr old helped mix it all together. Delicious and very moist cake, didn't last long. I replaced the cloves with a teaspoon of mixed spice and the walnuts with flaked almonds. - 02 Feb 2012
The bars are great: moist, chewy and good. Here are the changes I recommend: melted butter, not oil; using more persimmon, 3 ripe persimmons instead of 2 and/or adding some shredded Fuyu (the little crunchy ones). And less baking soda: 3/4 t. baking soda is enough. I also prefer a less spicy bar with only 1/2 t. cinnamon, 3/4 t. fresh grated nutmeg, and no cloves. - 28 Nov 2001 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
Great recipe! I followed one reviewer's suggestion of adding an extra persimmon, skipping the cloves and using butter instead of oil. (I made an additional modification and mixed in 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract with the beaten egg and sugar). The bars were super moist and tasty...almost like indulging in a delicious carrot cake. I topped mine with cream cheese frosting and they were FANTASTIC. Note: with my version, the bars weren't ready until 40-45 minutes (about twice as long as the original 20 minutes called out in the recipe)...still very much worth the wait ! - 11 Jan 2009 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)