I would have never made this recipe if I was flipping through a cookbook or the internet. Dates? Not a fan. In a dessert? Weird.
I don’t remember the first time I had this, but it was made by my talented dessert making friend that has passed a lot of fantastic dessert recipes on to me. The kind of person who works full time and still comes home and has real meals more regularly than most of us, some sort of dessert either on the counter or the freezer, and is playing words with friends with me at 12:30 a.m. because she’s still folding laundry.
I do remember sitting at her table, wondering why it was so moist and finally asking what it was. When she told me, I was shocked. I was supposed to dislike it, but I didn’t. In fact, I loved it.
So much for hating dates.
Once again, I learned a lesson. Don’t prejudge things. Wait, isn’t that what I tell my kids?
This is an easy and moist cake with a beautiful sweet topping. It’s worth a try, whether you like dates or not.
Now I need to find more recipes with dates ……
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8×8 square baking dish.
Bring dates to boil in a small pot of water. Strain, and return to pot with 1 cup of water and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3 minutes. Cool.
Meanwhile, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream butter. Take cooled date mixture and coarsely chop in a food processor. You don’t want to puree it, but you don’t want large chunks of dates either. Add dates to creamed butter, then eggs and stir well.
Add dry ingredients until just combined. Transfer into prepared pan. Bake approximately 25-30 minutes, test with toothpick or by gently pressing top of cake.
Remove from oven and let cool.
TOFFEE SAUCE
**This sauce makes A LOT more than you need. Save it for ice cream or other sweet treats.
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
ORANGELOLLS 