The onslaught of holiday cooking and baking has begun; my favorite time of year.
I love cracking open the books in my truly vast cookbook library and picking out recipes to try…and then tweak. Some stand the test of time, and others get tweaked again and again and again. This Persimmon Upside Down Spice Cake is one we’re going to keep just as it is, for many years to come I imagine. We served it up last night at the first of our family gatherings, with nips of whisky and dollops of whipped cream – divine. This cake hits a nostalgic note (because persimmons were one of my first sustaining discoveries when I was living in Japan years ago,) and also a holistic one. Rather than focusing on the debunking of all the nutritional *noise* we hear this time of year, I want to focus on the importance of building sattva – the principles of joy and peace now and all through the year, for our bodies, minds, and spirits. And, we can do it with CAKE.
The medicine of Ayurveda is rooted in eastern Samkhya philosophy; a philosophy founded on the notion that there are three basic qualities of nature present in everything in the universe, and make us who we are. The balance of these qualities we carry also dictates our thinking and the way our behaviors impact other aspects of our lives including our relationships, physical health, and state of mind. These qualities (called the “gunas” in Ayurveda) are the subtle qualities that impact how we experience our lives. These qualities are:
Sattva
This quality is the experience of clarity, lightness, purity, stillness, positivity, truth, and contentment. Anything that has these qualities – whether it be food, a thought, a relationship or an experience – will increase sattva within us. When we cultivate sattva in our lives we feel happy, balanced, at peace, creative, fulfilled, and inspired. Examples of things that increase sattva include:
Rajas
This is the experience of activity, motion, stimulation, energy, creativity, and passion. When rajas exists in excess within our bodies and lives, we can feel restless, greedy, anxious, and aggressive. Anything that increases these qualities will increase the rajas within us. Some of these things include:
Tamas
This quality is the experience of dullness, inertia, inactivity, sluggishness, and lethargy. With excess tamas, we feel unmotivated, sad, bored, and apathetic. Things that increase tamas in us include:
All of the gunas play a role in our lives, as there are times when we need rajas to engage in activity and movement. Tamas is the quality that allows us to feel a sense of grounding in our relationships, and confidence in our decisions, and even allows us to rest well at night. We require rajas to productively express creativity, to float through spontaneity, and to move our bodies in vibrant ways. But, ultimately, Ayurveda recommends keeping any overabundance of these two at bay. Building sattva is the goal, and there are so many ways to do that.
In modern terms, sattva, (सत्त्व in Sanskrit) is the quality of “going what feels good,” specifically when it comes from the heart, the deep intuition, the pure place in our being interested in genuine connection, truth, and knowing. The peace you feel when you sit down to meditate, move your body through nature, or eat a freshly cooked meal made with love – that’s sattva. Spending time in nature, connecting with friends who reciprocate our care, experiencing joy, eating foods cooked with love and attention, and using ingredients imbued with vitality are all ways to build our personal life preservers of sattva.
Which is to say that eating a cake, made by someone who knows and loves you – is sattva building at its best.
Juicy sweet fruits are some of the most sattvic foods we can consume but persimmons may have a special extra dose of this guna. While most sweet flavors (and fruits) are expert at reducing vata and pitta, persimmons are particularly exceptional at this; persimmons have ‘cold yin energy’ in Chinese medicine which means their astringency cools inflammation and sweetness helps rebuild fluids. Persimmons are thus an ideal fall tonic to combat autumn dryness (Vata) and any lingering inflammation from summer heat (Pitta). They moisten the throat and nourish the lungs, meaning that they help to ward off colds AND help us to speak our truth, breathe more easily and completely. All sattva boosting actions.
And SO, in addition to containing persimmons that boost the peace, joy, balance, lightness, and purity we carry in our bodies, adding them to this sweet little cake – baked with love – is a double whammy.
This tender, just-sweet cake is warmed with spices to boost digestion (important for aiding our bodies in processing the more nutritionally-dense foods of winter) and the experience of eating it with a dollop of whipped cream in the presence of those you love couldn’t be more good for the body/mind/soul. I can’t emphasize enough that building sattva – expressing and receiving joy, love, and exercising contentment – are some of the most powerful practices you can do for your health and well-being this time of year. Enjoy it for breakfast, or after a holiday meal, or as a snack with a friend and a cup of tea.
The recipe notes below give you a few instructions on how to pick your persimmons, what cake pans to use, and how to serve up sattva for yourself. Enjoy this one!
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