#date cake

first, sweet dates are boiled and mashed into a paste. swirled with warm, delicious spices like cinnamon and cardamom and then folded into a fluffy batter. once baked up we top them with the fluffiest, cloud-like cream cheese frosting and sprinkle a little pistachio on some for a little fancy.

I recently bought a mini loaf pan and was eager to use it and this was the perfect baking project for it. If you don't happen to have a mini loaf pan, get one. but if you are excited to make this recipe asap you can also bake it in a standard loaf pan, of course, adjusting the baking time accordingly.

the recipe makes about 7-8 mini loaves depending on how you fill each cavity, I got 8. where are the other two well the kids and i enjoyed them warm from the oven, of course.

okay well, i’m off, happy baking!

ingredients

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1 cup of small dates, pitted

1 stick of butter, room temp

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup of milk 

1 1/3 cup sugar ( I divided brown sugar and cane)

pistachios (optional)

preparation

Preheat the oven to 350F

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients.

in a small saucepan, combine the dates and 1 cup of water and boil on med high heat until the dates began to break down. remove from heat and began mashing them with a fork until you have a smooth paste. add in the spices and allow to cool.

in your stand mixer, whip the butter and sugars, until creamy.add in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. once the dates are cool add them to the butter whisking in briskly just to combine. 

add in half of the dry ingredients, then half of the milk alternating like that, once combined, give the batter a good spin on full blast for about 10 secs. 

spoon batter into the mini loaf pan, filling each about 2/3 full. bake for 25-30 mins. using a tester it should come out clean or a few moist crumbs. let them cool in the pan for a few minutes and then invert them on a wire rack to completely cool.

cream cheese frosting:

3 tbsp butter

4 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla 

1-2 tbsp heavy cream

combine all the ingredients in your stand mixer, except the heavy cream. start on low until the sugar is incorporated. then on full blast whip and slowly pour in the heavy cream until fluffy. add a pinch of salt. pipe onto completely cooled cakes and enjoy!