Persimmon Upside Down Cake

3 tablespoons margarine

¼ cup brown sugar

4 large ripe persimmons, peeled and sliced

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

2 cups persimmon pulp

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup chopped pecans

½ teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

Place the margarine and brown sugar in the cake pan and transfer the pan to the hot oven until the sugar is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven; arrange the persimmon slices over the topping in the cake pan.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Stir in the persimmon pulp. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Gradually add the flour mixture to the batter, stirring just to mix. The batter will be stiff, since the only liquid comes from the persimmon pulp. Stir in the pecans and lemon zest.

Spoon the cake batter evenly over the persimmon slices and return the cake pan to the preheated oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting the cake right-side-up on a serving platter.