Eggless Date & Walnut Cake

By Pavani @napavani
Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 4/ Day 3 Theme: Bookmarked Recipes -- Veena's Veg Nation Dish: Eggless Date & Walnut Cake
For the final day of this month's blogging marathon, I picked this yummy looking Eggless Dates Cake from Veena's blog. I recently bought a bag of seedless dates from Costco and have been snacking on them almost everyday. So when I saw this recipe, I knew it would be perfect to use some of the dates.
This cake is eggless and can be made with just a few basic ingredients. If you are using dates with seeds, then the dates need to be soaked in milk overnight to help in removing the seeds. I used seedless dates, so just warmed it in the microwave to make them a little soft.
I added a little bit of wholewheat pastry flour along with all purpose flour to make add some fiber to the cake. Also I reduced the sugar quantity from the original recipe and it was just the right sweetness for us.
Cake turned out soft & fluffy. Dates add a nice caramel flavor and a rich chocolaty color to the cake. I fooled my son into tasting it and he loved it even though it wasn't chocolate. This is a crowd pleasing cake -- everyone who tasted it, loved it.

Recipe adapted from Veena's recipe:
Ingredients: Makes 1 mini bundt cake or 10 mini bundt cupcakes or 1 8" round cake pan
All purpose flour - ¾cup
Whole wheat pastry flour - ¼cup (or use 1cup of all purpose flour)
Baking soda - 1tsp
Salt - a pinch
Seedless Dates - 18
Milk - ¾cup
Brown Sugar - ½cup (increase to ¾cup if you want the cake sweeter)
Oil - ½cup
Walnuts or Cashews - 2tbsp, finely chopped
Method:
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a mini bundt cake pan or a bundt cupcake cake pan  or a 8" cake pan with cooking spray.
  • Combine dates and milk in a microwaveable container and heat for 30~60seconds. Let the mixture cool a little, then grind into a smooth paste along with the sugar. 
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dates mixture, oil, chopped walnuts and mix well until combined.
  • Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20~22 minutes in mini bundt cake or cupcake pan or for 30~35 minutes in 8" round cake pan.
  • Cool the cake in the pan for 5~10 minutes. Remove onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 53.