Date cake with milk sauce
July 23, 2012 • Category: Dessert
I love dates and I never tire of them; here in Beirut one finds in all the pastry shops (especially now during Ramadan) dates stuffed with all sorts of goodies and beautifully packaged for gift-giving. This cake is a great way to use leftover dates; you simply chop them up and cook them in a little bit of water (or orange juice) and purée them; then you incorporate the purée into the cake batter.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups of dates ( 250 g.), already pitted
- 1/3 cup of water
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar
- 2 tbsp of unsalted butter
- 1 tsp of rose water
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup of oil
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup of sugar (brown or regular)
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- 1/2 tsp of cardamom (optional) or cinnamon
- 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tbsp of date molasses or grape molasses or dark honey
METHOD:
- Purée the dates: chop them and pit them and place them in a saucepan with water, butter and sugar; simmer gently, stirring from time to time, until the dates soften and the mixture is thick and smooth; you can then purée them with the help of an immersion blender or in the food processor. At this point, add the rose water if you like.
- Prepare the dry ingredients: mix in a bowl the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom or cinnamon (or both). In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar till thickened; add the oil in a thin stream then the vanilla. Add the dry mixture slowly till incorporated then the date mixture then add the walnuts.
- Transfer the cake to a loaf pan(previously greased and floured); bake in a medium oven (350F) till a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Make the sauce by mixing the condensed milk with the date syrup or molasses. Serve in a saucer with the cake if desired.
Comments
19 Comments • Comments Feed
Maureen Abood says:
I love dates and can’t wait to try this! Beautiful too!
On July 23, 2012 at 6:49 am
Lyndsey@TheTinySkill says:
Oh my, I don’t think I could resist this! I thought that was sweetened condensed milk just looking at that sauce. I once used it for strawberry shortcake when I didn’t have any whip cream in the house.I can’t wait to make this!
On July 23, 2012 at 7:26 am
Rosa says:
What a moist and delicious looking cake! I love that sauce too.
Cheers,
Rosa
On July 23, 2012 at 7:27 am
Belinda @zomppa says:
That sauce is divine!! What a sweet treat this is.
On July 23, 2012 at 8:38 am
Angie@Angiesrecipes says:
wow this looks fantastic! Great clicks, Joumana.
On July 23, 2012 at 8:55 am
Oui, Chef says:
We NEVER have leftover dates around here, but I’ll make a special trip to the market for some to make this beautiful cake. I think I’d like to bathe in the milk sauce!
On July 23, 2012 at 12:55 pm
A Canadian Foodie says:
Just seeing the table setting has me relaxed and edified. Beautiful. Love the pic of the sauce being poured. Everything looks so perfect and delicious. Lucky guest!
🙂
V
On July 23, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Nadji says:
Qui saurait résister à une telle gourmandise? En tout cas, pas moi.
Dis-moi la sauce : aucune cuisson, juste un mélange entre le lait concentré et la mélasse?
A bientôt
On July 23, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Joumana says:
@Nadji: oui, c’est un mélange que j’avais fait par hasard et comme ça avait bon goût, je l’utilise depuis!
@Devaki: You are making me blush! 🙂
On July 23, 2012 at 10:19 pm
DEVAKI says:
Joumana dear 🙂 What a treat this! I am absolutely making this soon – perhaps for the brunch this weekend with friends. The condensed milk sauce is just too decadent for words. And btw I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this but I am in awe of your photography and food styling skills.
I can’t believe I’ve missed some of your previous posts! Where the heck have I been? 🙂 Just so you know – your roasted pepper hummus is marvelous and it is one of my faves. Also, those molasses cookies bring me to my knees. You’re the best!
CHOW 🙂 Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
On July 23, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Angel of the North says:
Can’t work out whether it’s a 1 lb or 2lb loaf tin nor the weight of dates!
On July 24, 2012 at 2:46 am
Joumana says:
@Angel of the North: I am going to make it again and will give exact weight; my recollection is I used a long loaf pan (2 #). Just eyeball it once the dough is ready and use what you have available or another pan if too small; don’t fill the pan to the rim, just halfway is enough.
As far as the weight of the dates, 200 g. should be enough. I made this cake several times and when I used 400 g of dates, the cake stayed too moist and was heavy.
On July 24, 2012 at 6:25 am
Peter says:
Love the cake and the sauce with condensed milk and date syrup is simple brilliance!
On July 24, 2012 at 9:35 am
lisaiscooking says:
Dates are so delicious, and this cake looks amazing with the sauce. How fun to be able to find so many stuffed dates!
On July 24, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Christine @Fresh says:
I’ve been pretty good about staying away from sweets … that is until I saw this post. I so want a slice of this date cake and that wonderful condensed milk sauce. Delicious!
On July 24, 2012 at 9:31 pm
samir says:
…need to make this…my aunt used to make a date cake like this sans any sauce..to serve with coffee and tea,,,lovely..i liked mine with some good vanilla ice cream on the side
On July 25, 2012 at 4:00 am
Mercotte says:
pour moi qui suis fan de cakes et de dattes, voilà une bien belle recette ! j’aime aussi l’idée de cuire les dattes avec du jus d’orange
On July 25, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Kathy says:
Joumana, Such a lovely looking cake…absolutely irresistible!! I am a huge date fan! The Milk Sauce looks amazing!!
On July 26, 2012 at 8:10 am
s says:
fantastic recipe, J. i love love love date cake and the milk sauce probably makes it even more delicious. x s
On July 29, 2012 at 12:14 pm