super moist Date Cake - Full of flavours - Perfect with a cuppa!

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Date cake
Date cake

If you love the comfort of a delicious, spongy piece of cake with a cuppa, I suggest that this is the best cake to appease your tastebuds!

The well-balanced sweetness and the moist texture of this cake will win your heart instantly! The best news is that this cake tastes so good even without any heavy frosting. Just plain without much deco but proudly holding its place with unshakable trust!

You could even pack daintily cut pieces of this cake in a plastic box to take on picnics or long drives. I always remember to bake this cake and take it when I visit my best friend and the delight in her smile says it all!

With all the tips and techniques are given below nothing can go wrong. So, let’s get ready to make this beauty!

You need the following ingredients;

Good quality wet dates250 g
Margarine or spread250 g
Caster sugar250 g
Self-raising flour (Plain flour could be used if SRF is not available)250 g
Eggs4
Plain tea bags2
Salt2 pinches
Baking powder1 tsp
Bicarbonate of soda1 tsp
Juice of lemon2 tsp
Boiling Water 

 🧡💛💚💙💜Let’s get started:

Prepare the date pulp.

(🧡💛💚💙💜 Traditionally,  this is done by soaking the dates overnight with a combination of hot water, plain tea bags and bicarb.  I invented a quicker and much easier method to make the same quality date pulp, in just 10-15min by boiling it which made the whole process easy and less cumbersome. (Interestingly, the idea of dropping tea bags into this, is purely to get a nice dark brown colour.)

🧡💛💚💙💜Gather the following;

  • Good quality dates (De-stoned) – 250 g
  • Plain tea bags          – 2
  • Bicarb                       – 1 tsp
  • Water to fill up to the level of dates

🧡💛💚💙💜Let’s make it;

Fill water just above dates, drop 2 teabags and bicarb. Cover and boil until water reduces to a minimum
  • Drop dates, two teabags and 1tsp of bicarb into a pan and fill with water just above the level of dates
  • Cover and boil until the water reduces to the minimum (This concoction might turn greenish because of bicarb but don’t worry)
  • Take out from the flame and let the dates cool off completely
  • Squeeze the tea bags and remove them
  • Your date pulp is ready

🧡💛💚💙💜Let’s get on with the cake now

  • Preheat the oven to 180C.

Oven temp conversion chart at

http://happyrecipes.co.uk/oven-temperature-conversion/

Cream the batter

  • Beat sugar and butter together for about 2 mins or until creamy, using an electric hand mixer
  • Add eggs one at a time,  beat for 15 seconds after each addition
  • Now add the date pulp and beat for 1 min until everything comes into a watery batter
  • Add lemon juice, vanilla and salt
  • Next,  mix baking powder with flour and sieve it on to the batter
  • Gently fold the flour with a wooden spoon until everything comes to a creamy batter

In to the tray

  • Line up a baking tray  with parchment paper and pour the batter in
  • Lift  the tray up and gently drop to the surface to let the air bubbles escape and the batter to spread and settle evenly

Stick in the Oven

  • Place the tray in the middle of the bottom shelf of the oven
  • Bake for  20  – 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean when stabbed in the middle of the cake.  If the skewer comes out sticky, leave the cake a few mins more in the oven.

Enjoy

  • Take the cake out of the oven and let the cake rest for 5 mins
  • Gently,  remove from the tray and let it cool on a wire rack
  • Dip a knife in hot water before slicing the cake to avoid it from crumbling

Tips:

  • Always opt for the best quality wet dates for a flavourful cake
  • Never open the oven door during the first 10mins of baking
  • This cake tastes best the next day

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