Persimmon, Rosemary, Hazelnut & Cardamom Loaf

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 180˚C. Spread the chopped hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake until lightly golden, approximately 4 minutes.
2. Lightly oil one loaf tin (11cm wide x 25.5cm long) and then coat liberally with extra ‘Spitfire’ Flour - this will prevent the bread from sticking.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat together with sage leaves. Just heat the butter until it starts to brown and the sage leaves turn a little crispy. Remove from the heat but keep in a warm place so that the butter doesn’t solidify.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the cooled toasted hazelnuts with the remaining dry ingredients. Break the eggs in a separate bowl, add the persimmon, buttermilk, warm sage butter and vanilla extract and whisk together well. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet, stirring together well, to from a heavy, wet dough halfway between a thick cake batter and a bread dough. Add a little more flour if the dough is looking a bit wet or a little extra buttermilk if too dry.
5. Spoon the dough into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top of the dough with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature with our EVOO and Sticky Balsamic.
7. Will keep for up to a week in a sealed bag in the refrigerator.