The ultimate combination of fresh dates and slightly bitter and crunchy walnuts make this Eggless Date and Walnut Cake irresistible. This Dates cake is a moist and tender loaf cake with no eggs and also no added sugar.
Soak the pitted dates in hot milk for around 1.5-2 hours until it becomes soft.
Meanwhile, sieve all the dry ingredients. Remove 1 tbsp of the sieved flour to coat the walnuts so that they do not sink while baking. Also prepare the pan by coating the base and sides with little oil and lining with a parchment paper on top. Set all of this aside.
After 1.5-2 hours, preheat the oven to 180 degree C or 360 degrees F
Blend the soaked dates to a smooth paste and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Do not add any additional liquid while blending.
Whisk in the oil to form a homogenous mixture using a balloon whisk.
Then switch to a spatula and fold in the dry ingredients using cut and fold method.
Finally add the coated walnuts and fold that too.
Transfer to the prepared cake pan. Level and smooth the top. Add more crushed walnuts on top if you prefer.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 mins o a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Once baked let it sit in the pan itself for another 3 mins and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and enjoying.
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Notes
For this recipe I am using 22 Medjool Dates that weighed 336 gms once pitted,
The size of the cake pan used in the recipe is 7x3 inches
Using Hot Milk to soak the dates reduces the soaking time considerably.
The key to making the best cake recipes is by using good quality ingredients. Use fresh locally produced good quality sweet dates for making this moist date and walnut loaf cake.
I like to keep the parchment paper hanging over the sides of the cake pan a little. This makes it easier to lift the cake once baked and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
The time duration needed to bake the cake would vary a lot depending upon how many dates and what quality of dates you are using. Since dates provide moisture to the cake, you have to make sure that the cake is baked well. Keep checking with a skewer every 5 mins after the 40 mins bake time. It took me 50 mins to bake the cake.
You can add some vanilla extract or instant coffee powder or ground cinnamon to bring about some variations in the cake flavor.
A few other variations that you can try would include replacing the dry fruits with chocolate chips. Adding shredded coconut. Or some pineapple chunks or simply replacing the walnuts with pecans or using a combination of nuts like almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.