Boiled Date Cake

I liked one of my snaps taken recently. I thought it was one of my best ever snaps. I felt happy every time I saw the picture and was pretty impressed with myself ;). I was waiting eagerly to show that snap to my amma. I usually send her the snaps when she is online and we see it together. That way I dont miss her instant reactions after seeing the snap. Other day she came online and I showed her the snaps. I was expecting a plethora of adjectives like “lovely, pretty, beautiful” etc; hhmm I’m just exaggerating, I only expected words like nice, good :). But her response was different…its like “ohh ee photo atra sheriyayilla” (this snap hasn’t come out well or something to that effect). Though I wasn’t ready to accept it, I made peace with it later on. I realised that she didn’t like my new hair cut and hence the photo too.

The reason I said that here is because I loved this dates cake. I think this is one of the best cake that I’ve ever baked/eaten. Now, if you like dates, I surely want you to try this. And I will be sad if I hear that you dont like it, but it’s ok. I will try to make peace with that too :) After all each person’s taste is different right? But, please give it a try, I’m sure you will like it too. If you like it, please don’t forget to send me a mail “full of adjectives” ;).

Here is the recipe:

1. Butter – 185 gm, chopped
   Milk – 1 cup (250 ml)
   Brown sugar – 3/4 cup (150gm), firmly packed
   Deseeded dried dates – 1 cup (145 gm), coarsely chopped
2. Bicarbonate of soda – 1/2 tsp
3. Self-raising flour – 1 1/2 cups (225 gm), refer notes for substitution
4. Plain flour (maida) – 1/2 cup (75 gm)
5. Eggs – 2, beaten lightly

Preheat oven to 180 C, 10 mins before baking.Prepare a deep 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin.

Combine number 1 ingredients in large saucepan. using wooden spoon, stir over heat until butter melts. Bring to a boil; remove from heat, stir in soda bicarbonate. Cool for 10 minutes. Quickly stir in flours & eggs. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.

Bake cake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Turn cake onto wire rack to cool.

Serves 12-14

Notes: I used eggs at room temperature. I used soft light brown sugar. I made only half the quantity mentioned above. My cake was ready in about 25-30 minutes. Please adjust the baking time according to your oven. Seeded prunes can be substituted for dates. It’s important to grease the baking pan well; sugary mixtures such as this tend to stick to the pan. I baked the cake in a 6 inch bundt pan. You can serve this cake with cream, custard or even ice cream.

Storage: Cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature or up to 1 week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you are living in a highly humid place, refrigeration is recommended.

Substitution for self raising flour – to get 1 cup self-raising flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder+ 1/4 tsp salt to 1 cup all purpose flour. (source: http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html)

Butter conversion: Check out here for butter conversion.

Recipe source: The Australian Women’s Weekly, Cooking Class Cakes.

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MariasMenu is a popular food blog written by Maria Jose with its no nonsense simple, tasty and delicious recipes – all tried and tested by readers, family and friends alike. Read more about Maria and her venture.