Dates and Fig Cake

Tasted this delicious cake when I visited a friend's house for dinner. One of her friends had brought this to the party. Like it happens in most parties I had stuffed myself with all the delicious food that there was no room in the stomach to eat dessert. Sad! My awesome friend packed a few pieces which was enjoyed away from all the food the next day and it was just pure delicious. Soft and moist but light. I needed to make the cake. I had to make! Texted and got the recipe just in time for the holidays. With everyone at home for the holidays the decision to make it was a good one but the cake did not last too long.

It is an extremely delicious cake but very simple to make. If you want to make a vegan version of the cake replace the egg with egg substitute. It took approximately an hour to cook for me and the smaller cakes in the ramekins took about 40 minutes. The original recipe calls for walnuts but I had only pecans so used those. The recipe uses raisins I used dried figs because I like the taste of figs in cakes but if you don't prefer that substitute with either raisins or dried cranberries.

Soak the chopped dates in 3/4 cup of boiling water for 20 minutes. Blend it in a smooth paste if preferred.
In a mixing bowl add the wheat flour, followed by the oil.
Add the sugar, baking soda,soaked dates with the water and the egg.
Use the egg beater to mix everything together. Add the chopped figs and pecans.
Grease the pan and add in the batter.
Bake for 40 minutes for the ramekin and 60 minutes for the 9" cake pan.

Serve warm with some ice cream. Just delicious.

Date Fig Cake
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 60 - 90 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 cup of chopped dates
2. 3/4 cup of chopped lightly roasted pecans (or walnuts)
3. 3/4 cup of chopped dried figs (or raisins/cranberries)
4. 1 cup of olive oil
5. 1 egg (use 3 tsp of egg replacer for vegan version)
6. 1 tsp vanilla extract
7. spice powders - 1 tsp dry ginger powder, 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder, 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder (optional, I did not add any)
8. 1 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour
9. 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
10. 3/4 cup of raw sugar (or brown sugar
11. 1/2 tsp salt
12. 3/4 cup of boiling water

Method

1. Soak the dates in the boiling water for at least 20 minutes. It gets soft and mushy. If you need it smoother, blend it.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. In a mixing bowl, take the flour, add oil, sugar, baking soda, egg, the soaking dates with the water.
4. Using the mixer mix the dry ingredients with the wet.
5. Add in the chopped pecans and figs and mix using a spatula.
6. Pour the batter in a greased pan and bake for 60 -90 minutes. It took me 60 minutes. Set the temperature for 30 minutes first and then check for doneness, then set the temperature to 30 minutes more and check if it needs to be baked longer. Mine took only 60 minutes. If using a Bundt pan it might take longer.
7. Cool for 20 minutes before serving the cake warm with some ice cream.
   

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