Noshing Across the Nation

A while ago I saw a recipe somewhere that caught my eye. It was a date cake with very little flour and no sugar at all. I decided to give it a try with my own little twist, of course. I love dates! What could be better for a Shabbat than your ancestral food? Plus, it is so easy to make! Just make sure to buy really nice, meaty dates. Usually these are not pitted, you have to do it yourself. I think that pitted dates are much drier and might not give you the end result of a moist cake.

So, I took:

20 nice Medjool dates

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1/2 cup wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped mix of nuts (you can use what you have at home)

2 tsp chocolate liqueur (totally optional)

 

Put the pitted dates roughly torn into the food processor and add the coffee dissolved in the boiling water. Blend for a little bit just until the dates chunks are not too big anymore.

With the processor running and vanilla and eggs. This will prevent eggs from cooking in the hot liquid. Add the liqueur.

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients.

Combine both batches together either in the bowl, or better yet in the food processor if it’s big enough. Mine is small, so I blended just a little bit, and then finished mixing in a bowl. Make sure that no streaks of flour remain visible.

Pour into a cake pan greased with oil or baking spray .

Bake at 350F. for about 40 minutes until the wooden toothpick comes with no crumbs attached, but not more. Depending on your oven start checking after 30 minutes. It shouldn’t be over-baked.

I have sprinkled some coconut and some chocolate sugar on top. Again – totally optional.

 

And – it was really great and so light!