I adapted this recipe from an Irish recipe given in one of the Moosewood cookbooks. The inscription in my copy of that book thanks me for my influence on the Moosewood Collective. Well, now they've influenced me back - and that's how it is with recipes, as anyone knows who has chatted with a neighbor over the fence.

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup minced fresh ginger root
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup hot, strong, brewed coffee
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

butter and flour for the pan

Prepare an 8x8" square baking pan by buttering it and dusting it with flour. Pre-heat the oven to 350°.

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat the egg and molasses together. Spin the minced ginger in a food processor, add the egg and molasses, and process again. Then beat ginger mixture into the butter and sugar.

Sift together the flour and the spices, and stir into the wet mixture.

Dissolve the baking soda in the hot cofee and add it to the batter, beating everything together with a whisk or electric mixer for several minutes.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream - and with some ripe persimmon puree if it's persimmon season.

Serves 9 - 10.

Pumpkin Butter With Fresh Ginger

Of course, the main thing is to get a good-tasting pumpkin. Look for heirloom varieties, which are becoming much more available now. I've had the most success with some big, gray pumpkins, deeply ridged and marked with warts. I guess the worse they look, the better they taste. But small orange pie pumpkins should do very well also - just don't use the bland jack o'lantern varieties.

1 large pumpkin, or two small - (about 8-10 lbs. whole, 14-16 cups cooked flesh)
4 - 5 inch piece fresh gingerroot (about 1/2 cup minced)
1 cup honey
4 tsps. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. lemon juice or cider vinegar
2 - 3 cups brown sugar

Cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out the seeds, and place the halves cut-side down on non-stick baking pans. Bake the pumpkin in a 350° oven for about an hour, or until it gives easily when poked with a wooden spoon, and is releasing its juice. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then scoop out all the soft flesh into a measuring bowl. You should have 14 to 16 cups.

Taste the pumpkin. If it is flavorful but not especially sweet, you know you will be using more sugar. If it tastes quite sweet on its own, and the juices in the pan are syrupy, then go carefully when you start adding the sugar, mixing in small amounts at a time and tasting until you have the right flavor balance.

Peel and mince the ginger, or chop it coarsely and run it through the food processor. If you prefer, you can grate it, and toss the fibrous mass that is left behind when you've worked through a few inches of the root.

Mix together the soft pumpkin, minced or pureed ginger, honey, spices, salt and lemon juice or cider vinegar. Add the brown sugar a cup at a time, stirring well after each addition, and tasting. When it tastes just right to you, stop. There is a lot of latitude here for different pumpkins.

When you have seasoned and sweetened the pumpkin to your satisfaction, puree it in batches in the food processor, allowing it to get as smooth as possible.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into a couple of baking dishes, and put them in the oven at 325° for an hour, or perhaps a little longer. Give the pumpkin a stir once every twenty minutes or so. The pumpkin butter is ready when it has the consistancy you like. My preference is something a bit thicker than apple butter.

Pack the hot pumpkin butter into sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath or a pressure canner exactly as you would for any jam or sweet preserve. Or, you can pack the pumpkin butter into clean jars and store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It can also be frozen for up to 6 months.

This makes enough for about a dozen half-pint jars, maybe a little more - but that depends on how thick you let it get and how much of it you eat while you're working.