EGGLESS DATE AND NUT CAKE

I love Dates.They are so full of nutrition that often I pop a few into my mouth when I crave a snack without a lot of fat in it and which also satisfies my sweet tooth.I remember having baked a date cake long ago(almost 8 yrs ago,to be frank!) and my sister always asks for that recipe.Unfortunately,I don't have that recipe anymore.And thus began my search for a date cake that would be only mildly sweet .I was surprised to find a recipe by Delia Smith which is low in saturated fat as well.I made a few changes to the recipe,so here is the recipe with the changes.You can find the original recipe at Deliaonline.So,here is the recipe with the changes I made:

Indgredients:175 gms stoned dates(About 3/4 cup)

225 gms All purpose flour/Maida(2 cups)

50 gms White sugar(1/3 cup)

25 gms Margarine-I used "I can't believe its not butter(1 tablespoon)

75 gms Walnuts

75 gms Cashews

1 tsp Baking soda

2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

1 Clove(I crushed it in the mortar with 1/2 tsp of sugar)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tbsp Ground flax seeds

4-5 tbsps Water

Icing:110 gms Icing/Confectioners Sugar

1 tablespoon margarine

4-5 tablespoons warm milk


Method: Put the ground flax seeds along with the water into a microwave safe bowl and microwave it on high for 1 min.The flax meal will have absorbed some water and become thick.Set it aside to cool.

Heat the oven to 400F/200C and roast the nuts until they turn light brown,this takes about 8-10 mins.Let them cool,then chop coarsely.

Reduce the heat to 350F/175C.Line a 7 inch square cake pan with 4 inch high sides,with parchment or wax paperMy favourite trick to making wax paper is to spray a normal white sheet with oil and then use it to like my cake pans.We were living in a small town where parchment or wax paper was not really available,so I came up with this trick to reduce the mess a date cake can make.You can also grease your tin but if you do,grease it well with some shortening/ghee.This cake rises high and is moist too,so making it in sandwich type pans would make the cake too thin and dry.

Chop the dates and soak it in 1 cup(250 ml) of boiling water.Add baking soda and the margarine .Set aside.

Sift the flour with cinnamon powder,clove powder,salt and the baking soda.I generally measure it all, and them put it into a bowl and aerate it well with my wire whisk.

Once the flax meal has cooled,the consistency will be exacly like an egg,very slimy and gooey and almost mud coloured.Now take this into a mixing bowl and beat it with spoon.I like to use a flat melamine rice server to beat my cake batters with, as melamine does not absorb water.Add the sugar and beat well till the mixture is a little lighter in colour.

Crush the dates by hand to make a coarse paste.You can leave it like that if you like date chunks in your cake.

Add this to the mixing bowl and beat well.Now add the flour to this in two parts,mixing well to incorporate it fully.Lastly,add the chopped nuts.Coat the nuts with a little flour that you have measured for the cake.This prevents the nuts from sinking to the bottom after the cake has baked.

If the batter is a little too thick,you can add some milk,about 5-6 tbsps.I did have to add the milk to bring the batter to a pouring consistency.

Pour it into the prepared cake pan.Bake for 1 1/4 hours.The cake will smell done, and the top will spring back when touched lightly.I baked in in my anodised Silverwood pan and the cake was done in 55 minutes.


Mix the ingredients for the icing and pour over the cake.