Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Date Loaf



One of my favourite cakes is my Mum's date loaf.  She made it often when we were kids, and as a grown up, I pestered her for the recipe, which she recited off the top of her head over the phone.  Amazing!!!

We used to eat this cake smothered in margarine, but now I am a grown up and don't need "sauce" on everything, I like this cake without anything on it.  It is a cinch to make, and turns out moist in the middle with a crusty outside.

To make my Mum's date loaf, you will need:

1 cup coarsely chopped dates
1/2 cup brown sugar
120g butter
1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
3/4 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1 cup boiling water
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork
 pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Place the chopped dates, sugar, baking soda and butter into a medium sized bowl.  Pour over the boiling water, then allow the mixture to stand until it reaches room temperature.

Add the beaten egg to the bowl, then sift and mix in the flours.

Pour the batter into a greased  8" x 5" inch loaf pan, and bake in the preheated oven for ~ 45 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer poked into the centre of the cake.
Remove the cake from the oven, and allow it to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Serve warm or cold, alone or slathered with butter.

This date loaf was made for brekky with my comrades in the marketing department during the couple of days that I was privileged to sit among them.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds great! I've been thinking about dates since we made the date loaf for TWD. I need to make some of my mom's recipes too.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I love these sorts of loaves but I guess I'm still a kid because I love them smothered in butter ;)

Finla said...

I love loafs like this and your look perfect.

Elin said...

This date loaf sounds great and I am sure it is moist in the middle and crusty on the outside. I would like to try this out since it is the Ramadhan month ...lots of dates on sale :) Making this would be great :) Thanks for sharing your mom's recipe :)

Johanna GGG said...

my mum used to make a similar sort of cake - haven't had anything like it for years so I must try this

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious!

Lauren Hairston said...

I've been waiting for you to post this recipe since you mentioned your mom had a great date loaf. I'll have to give it a try!