EGGLESS DATE AND WALNUT CAKE

 

 07.10.2020: The past few years I’ve had many requests for eggless cakes but I’ve always avoided making eggless bakes under the (false) presumption that cakes with eggs would be fluffier and lighter. The Eggless Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel put an end to these preconceived notions and while I still don’t specifically go about looking for eggless recipes, I’ve been more open to trying these eggless cakes if I happen to come across them.

My mother used to bake a scrumptious, sticky Date Cake which was rich and decadent and had the strong caramel taste of dates. Though she has sent me the recipe for it thrice already, I keep inadvertently deleting the message (If you are reading this, please send it again).

I always have a box of dates lying about in the house. For some reason, my father in law and my mother think that Skip loves dates and send me a box once in a while. Even though I know Skip hates dates and I have cause to believe that my skin breaks out when I eat them, I buy a box because I like to stock up on healthy food ( It’s not just Haldirams and Laxmi Narayans 😉).

I had two boxes of dates in the house and was looking for recipes with Dates when I came across this recipe on lovenadflourbyPooja. I follow her on Instagram as she has some amazing recipes. You may check out the Eggless Lemon Loaf that I baked following her recipe.

I also have a recipe for Bliss Balls saved which I plan to make soon. Please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent and you’d be notified when that post goes up.

This cake is definitely one of the best cakes I’ve baked. It is moist, has a wonderful (but not too strong) flavour of dates. Skip loved it too, even after I told him it had dates. At times, I skip adding nuts to cakes, but I would highly recommend adding walnuts as it tastes wonderful with dates.

EGGLESS DATE AND WALNUT CAKE

Ingredients:

Chopped and Pitted dates- 1 cup

Milk – 1 cup

Sugar – 3 tbsp

Oil – 1/3 cup

Flour – 1 cup

Baking powder- ½ tsp

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Walnuts – ½ cup

 

Method:

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 6 or 7 inch baking dish.

2.     Soak ½ cup of the dates in half a cup of hot milk for at least an hour and then grind it into a smooth paste.

3. To the above date paste, add oil, sugar and remaining milk and mix well with a whisk.

4.  In a separate bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. To this, add the remaining dates and walnuts and mix well until the dates and walnuts are covered in the flour mixture.

5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until streaks of flour disappear.

6.     Transfer to the baking dish and bake for about 35-40 mins or until done.

7.     Done.