This Date Cake recipe was created after making an incredibly delicious Sticky Toffee Pudding. The thought was to make a cake using dates to make a flavorful and moist cake while using slightly healthier ingredients.
Not every dessert has to be piled high with bowls of sugar. Not that this recipe is health food, but it sure is a step in the proper direction.
Dates used in cakes is a great way to maintain a moist, dense, sweet, and flavorful cake without adding a strange aftertaste or mouth feel that other methods result in… we’re looking at you black beans.
To make a Date Cake, start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a small sauce pot, simmer the dates in 3/4 of a cup of water for 15 minutes. The purpose of this is to add moisture into the dates. Pour the dates and any remaining water into a blender and blend into a puree.
In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until they are fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and date puree and continue to mix.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients half at a time and continue to mix until you have a consistent uniform batter.
Butter a shallow baking pan or line it with parchment paper, or use a buttered casserole baking pan.
Pour the batter into the pan of choice. Gently rock and tap to help the batter settle evenly into the pan.
Place the Date Cake into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. The toothpick test, if unfamiliar, is just putting a toothpick into a cake and if it comes out clean then the cake is done. It helps to have a pan of water in the oven when baking too, it adds humidity to the oven which in turn helps to keep cakes moist.
Once the Date Cake is done, remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack until you can safely touch it without burning your hands.
Carefully, invert the cake onto a cutting board or you can leave the cake in the pan and cut it into equal sized pieces.
Plate each piece and serve with whipped cream and crushed pistachios.
Date Cake
Ingredients
- 6 oz Pitted Dates
- 3/4 cup Water
- 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Softened Butter
- 1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp Crushed Pistachios
- Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small sauce pot simmer the dates in the water for 15 minutes. Pour the dates and any remaining water into a blender and blend into a puree.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
- In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and date puree and mix until uniform throughout.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients half at a time and continue to mix until you have a consistent throughout, uniform batter.
- Butter a shallow baking pan or line it with parchment paper.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until it passes the clean toothpick test.
- Let cool until you can touch the pan, safely, with your hands. Carefully invert the cake. Cut into equal sized pieces. Serve with pistachios and whipped cream.