This Easy Moist Date Cake is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! It has a fluffy texture, is topped with pecans for crunch and is served with caramel sauce to make it sticky. Serve this delicious cake with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
My uncle always sends a pack of dates from the middle east to my house during Ramadan and I always get excited and make as many date recipes as I can think of. The first thing that came to mind was these date sweets because they are really easy to make and are a great energy-boosting snack. Then, I thought of this date cake because dates can be pureed to make an amazing natural sweetener that is used in baking.
You will love this cake if you are a sticky toffee pudding fan! It is moist, fluffy, and has a deep caramel flavor thanks to the brown sugar. It also includes warm spices such as cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon which add sweet, spicy notes to the cake. Oh, and let’s not forget the pecans, which take this cake to the next level and add some crunch.
I converted a lot of date skeptics with this recipe so I am sure this sticky date cake will become your new favorite dessert!
What I Love About This Recipe
- It’s great if you have leftover dates and have no idea what to do with them.
- The flavors in this cake are rich and indulgent.
- It is easy to make.
- The ingredients are easy to find.
- It is budget-friendly.
Ingredients
- Dates: If the dates are not already pitted, slice them and remove the seeds because the seeds should not be baked or pureed.
- Boiling water: Make sure the water is boiling because it will be used to soften the dates.
- Baking soda: This helps to break down the dates, makes them rise and prevents them from sinking to the bottom when they are baked.
- Unsalted butter: Use room-temperature unsalted butter.
- Brown sugar: Use brown sugar for this recipe because it adds a sweet caramel-like flavor to the cake.
- Eggs: Must be at room temperature to ensure they mix well with the other ingredients. Cold eggs can result in the cake batter splitting and affect the texture. If the eggs are cold, put them in a bowl of warm water for about 7-8 minutes and they should come to room temperature faster.
- All-purpose flour: Sift the flour to remove lumps and excess dirt.
- Cloves: Add ground cloves to add sweet, spicy notes to the cake.
- Nutmeg: Grate a whole nutmeg or use ground nutmeg.
- Cinnamon: Use ground cinnamon.
- Salt: This balances out the sweetness of the cake.
- Baking powder: To help the date dessert rise.
- Pecans: Roughly chop them to add some crunch.
For Serving
- Caramel sauce: I like to use readymade caramel sauce because it is quicker but you can also make it yourself.
- Heavy cream: Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream to the caramel sauce when heating it on the stove.
Equipment
- Hand-held or stand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Knife
Recipe Variations
Make a healthy date cake! I have made this exact recipe with the same ingredient measurements without sugar and it came out great because the date puree acts as a natural sweetener.
I topped this cake with caramel sauce but feel free to swap this with toffee sauce instead.
if you do not have pecans to hand, they can be swapped with walnuts or omit the nuts altogether if you have allergies or prefer a plain cake.
How to Make Sticky Date Cake
- Preheat oven to 175C or 350F. Then lightly grease a 7ā baking tin with oil or butter and line it with parchment paper. Set aside for later.
- Combine 180g of all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Start by using a knife to remove the seeds from each date. Then soak 225g of dates in 1 cup of boiling water and add 1 tsp of baking soda for ten minutes. This will soften the dates.
4. Meanwhile, add 100g of room-temperature unsalted butter to a bowl. Whisk for one minute. Then add 100g of brown sugar to the butter and whisk for 3-5 minutes or until fluffy.
5. Pour two eggs into the creamed butter and whisk until the egg disappears.
6. Next, use a masher or blender to puree the dates into a smooth paste.
7. Then, pour the date puree into the egg mixture and whisk for 2 minutes or until combined.
8. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Repeat this step with the remaining dry ingredients.
9. Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined cake tin.
10. Then add 1 cup of chopped pecans on top of the cake and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Serve this Sticky Date Cake plain or with caramel sauce and ice cream. Read the recipe card for more details about the caramel sauce.
Tips and Tricks
- Dry ingredients: Sift the baking powder, baking soda, all-purpose flour, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon before preparing the cake batter. This will ensure that the cake batter has the ideal consistency.
- Wet ingredients: The wet ingredients should be at room temperature for easy mixing. Using cold ingredients can also cause the cake batter to split.
- Weighing scale: I always use a weighing scale when baking because it is the way to guarantee that your ingredient measurements are accurate and avoid pitfalls.
- Baking tin: I made this cake in a circular tin, but you can also make it in a tray or loaf tin instead.
FAQs
There are various date cake recipes. Most recipes include dates, date paste, butter or oil, flour, eggs and sugar. This cake pairs well with caramel sauce, pecans or walnuts.
Baking soda softens the dates and prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the pan as they bake.
Soak them in boiling hot water for up to 10 minutes to soften them.
Store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Thanks for reading this recipe, comment below if you made this and let me know how it went! Follow @simshomekitchen on Instagram, take a photo, tag and hashtag it with @simshomekitchen.
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Easy Moist Date Cake
Ingredients
- 225 g dates remove the seeds
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 100 g of unsalted butter room temperature
- 100 g of brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 180 g of all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup of pecans roughly chopped
Caramel sauce
- 3/4 cup Caramel sauce for serving
- 2-3 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175C or 350F. Then lightly grease a 7ā baking tin with oil or butter and line it with parchment paper. Set aside for later.
- Combine all-purpose flour, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl.
- Use a knife to remove the seeds from each date. Then soak dates in a bowl with boiling water and add baking soda for ten minutes.
- While the dates soak, add unsalted butter to a bowl and whisk for one minute. Then add brown sugar to the butter and whisk for 3-5 minutes or until fluffy.
- Pour one egg into the creamed butter and whisk until the egg disappears. Repeat this step with the second egg.
- Next, use a masher or blender to puree the dates until they form a smooth paste.
- Then, pour the date puree into the egg mixture and whisk for 2 minutes or until combined.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Repeat this step with the remaining dry ingredients.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined cake tin. Then add chopped pecans on top of the cake and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Caramel sauce
- Heat caramel sauce on the stove and add heavy cream (optional).
- Serve this Sticky Date Cake plain or with caramel sauce and ice cream.
Video
Notes
- Dry ingredients: Sift the baking powder, baking soda, all-purpose flour, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon to remove lumps and ensure that the cake batter has the ideal consistency.
- Wet ingredients: The eggs and unsalted butter should be at room temperature for easy mixing.Ā
- Weighing scale: Use a weighing scale to ensure that your ingredient measurements are accurate and avoid pitfalls.
- Baking tin: Feel free to bake this cake in a tray, bundt pan or loaf tin instead.
We love to get sticky toffee pudding from local restaurants, but I’ve always wanted to bake it myself. This date cake was so much better than what I’ve eaten in restaurants and you’re instructions made it so easy to prepare that I’ll probably never order it again!
Hey there, Sim! Just tried your Date Cake recipe and it was a total hit! š It was so moist and flavorful, and my friends are already asking for more. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us. xx
This date cake was so moist and sweet. It reminds me of sticky toffee pudding!
Date cake has always been one of my favorites but Iāve never made it myself. Iām so glad that I found this recipe because this was better than all of the date cakes I got in the restaurant and at the store. Definitely making this again!