They say there is no such a thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as a healthy dessert. If it tastes good, it can not be good for you.
So when I found out that this yummy cake that my mom has been making is so healthy, I was very surprised. By the way I don’t know if you know but my mom is an incredible cook. She has been making some amazing recipes, new cuisines, new ingredients and even bakes some yummy things. I remember, our friends would come from school with us and they would be super surprised to know that the cake or cookie they are eating is actually home made, Aai is that good.
Back to the cake, since it eggless, sugar-free and butter free, everyone, even those with dietary restrictions can enjoy the cake. With this cake you can have your cake and not feel guilty. It is a favorite of all the friends and anytime I have made it, it disappears in minutes
This makes an ideal after school snack, lunch box treat or guilt free dessert.
Date Cake
This cake is butter-less, egg-less, sugar less, made from whole grain and the best part is it tastes yummy.
Date Cake
A delicious cake thats egg-less, sugar-free and can be made vegan. A wholesome snack thats perfect for teatime, school lunches and so much more. Packed with goodness of dates, this cake will please everyone.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 25-30 Dates Divided use
- 1- 1 1/4 cup Milk you need a little more if you use whole wheat flour
- 4-5 tbsp Sugar optional, I do not add any sugar  since the dates here are sweet
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour or APF
- 1/2 cup Oil I use Safflower oil
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tbsp Walnuts or more if you are crazy about walnuts like me
Instructions
Method
-
Soak 20-25 dates in warm milk till they are soft . About 3-4 hours is enough for the dates we get here, however you can leave it in the fridge overnight. Remove the seeds if not using seedless.
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Blend them to a smooth paste along with the milk in which it is soaked in.
-
Add oil and mix.
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Sieve together flour and baking soda, baking powder.
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Add the flour one table spoon at a time to the date mixture and stir.
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Chop the remaining dates
-
Taste and if needed add sugar. Add the nuts, chopped dates and mix.
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Preheat the oven at 350F. Bake the cake in a greased oven dish for 35-40min
Recipe Notes
You can make this vegan by substituting the milk with almond milk or soy milk.
If you feel like indulging, add a few chocolate chips.Â
Ingredients:
25-30 dates, divided use
1- 1 1/4 cup milk( you need a little more if you use whole wheat flour)
4-5 tbsp sugar( optional, I do not add any sugar since the dates here are sweet)
1 cup whole wheat flour or APF
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp walnuts(or more if you are crazy about walnuts like me)
Method:
Soak the dates(save 2-3 to be chopped &added to the batter) in warm milk (3-4 hours is enough for the dates we get here) Remove the seeds if not using seedless.
Blend them to a smooth paste along with the milk in which it is soaked in.
Add oil and mix.
Sieve together flour and baking soda. Add the flour one table spoon at a time and mix slowly.
Taste and if needed add sugar. Add the nuts, chopped dates and mix.
Preheat the oven at 350F. Bake the cake in a greased oven dish for 35-40min
Notes:
You can make this vegan by substituting the milk with almond milk or soy milk.
If you feel like indulging, add a few chocolate chips.
Also, if you use 1/2 whole wheat & 1/2 unbleached flour, you can leave out the baking powder.
Variation:
Apricot-almond cake
I love making a similar cake with Apricots & Almonds. It has a much more delicate flavor and goes well as a desert with a dollop of whipped cream
Aysegul from Turkey tried this recipe and was sweet enough to share her photo, here it is:
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43 Comments
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Welcome
Hola I am Anagha, and welcome to my Kitchen.
I love to eat and hence I love to cook. I love to travel and take pictures.
Hey Anagha —
Thank you for this awesome and easy and heavenly delicious recipe. My son who is not a cake lover loved eating it and it is so healthy can definitely enjoy some dessert guilt free 😊
Many many thanks 😄 you rock !
–Manisha (ardent fan)
That is awesome Manisha…so glad to know that the recipe worked for you and your son enjoyed it. Do try the other variation, ‘Apricot-Almond’. I am sure you will enjoy its flavor & delicate taste.
Hi Anagha,
I tried vegan version of your recipe with little addition here and there because it was a first birthday cake for my son. I wanted something vegan and without processed sugar. I used soya milk and I didn’t add extra sugar and walnuts. I:
soaked the dates in Half of the soya milk one night before with vanilla
added 1/2table spoon of ACV to rest of the soya milk for 15 mins in order to milk to curdle
1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup apple pure
Yes it didn’t rise a lot but it was humid and soft enough to serve as a bday cake with a coconut whipp cream on it.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Anagha
This cake turned out to be absolutely delicious. Very moist and at the same time crunchy with the chopped dates and walnuts. I even made cupcakes out of them for a meetup and was a big hit.
Here is the link to the cupcake pic
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203974384814433&set=oa.622011941252096&type=1&theater
Thanks
Anita
Here is the link to my blog post on this recipe
http://cravecookclick.com/date-walnut-cake-recipe/
Hi Anagha,
Tried the cake today, is tasting delish! Just did a little variation to make it kids friendly, added organic cholocate chunks. No sugar though! Thanks a lot for this amazing recipe.
the cake looks amazing. just one question, could we skip soaking the dates and blend dates and milk immediately?
Sorry for the delayed reply. Yes you can, you will get more chunks of dates in the cake and the color will be a little lighter. Typically if the dates are well soaked, you get a richer brown color.
[…] also make a Date-Walnut cake with similar recipe and it tastes just as […]
Thanks for the recipe I tired it out yesterday n it turned out yummy….
Awesome, so glad you liked it and appreciate you taking the time to write the feedback. Do try the apricot version as well, it has a very nice & delicate flavor.
Hi Anagha,
I have a quick question. Do you use blender to mix the flour or do it by hand?
Thanks,
Pooja
I grind the dates in a blender but then mix the flour just with hands. Hope this helps.
Hi Anagha.. The cake looks lovely. I am very new at baking and found this easy and healthy. Just a query the ingredients say 1/2 tsp baking powder. Did u add it? In the method it just says seive flour and baking soda. Looking forward to your reply.. Have soaked the dates. Making this for our anniversary.. 🙂
Hi Amruta, thank you. I will correct the recipe. If you use whole wheat flour, you should use baking powder in addition to the baking soda. But if you use Maida you dont need baking powder and just use baking soda. Thank you for trying and Happy Anniversary to you and your husband.
Thanks Anagha for the wishes and recipe 🙂 . I tried it.. Came out great..
Hi Amruta, would be awesome if you can post a picture of yours when you get a chance. 🙂
Made this one for valentine’s as my hubby is allergic to processed sugar. It came out great and he enjoyed it!! Thanks! For my kids, I made some butter cream frosting to go with it and they enjoyed it too.
So cool, I am sure this the cake enjoyed being a part of your ‘Date’
Hi Anagha,
Is it possible to replace milk with almond or soy milk?
Did you ever try baking with Almond milk?
Hi Maya, yes it works just as well with soy or almond milk, I have tried both.
Hey,
Thank you so much for your recipe. It was so delicious and moist also guilt-free 😀
Here is the link to my cake’s photo. http://hizliresim.com/y45G9k
I added almonds also and they were pretty good together 🙂
It was a great recipe for my taste.
Love from Istanbul,
Aysegul
Thank you so much for trying and glad you liked it. I will add your image to the post as well. Would love to learn some turkish delicacies from you, so please share when you can.
Thank you so much for the reply and also for adding my image to your post.
It’s so kind of you 🙂
Sure, What kind of recipes you would like to know about ?
I would be happy to share 🙂
Hi Anagha, I tried the date cake. It was a super hit and a total sell out. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thank you for the feedback, so glad you liked it
This is a really tasty cake. I made the sugar-free/ wholewheat version for a friends birthday and added slices of banana on the top and dusted with cocoa. It was very popular. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you so much JosieAnn..so glad the cake was a part of a celebration and liked by all. 🙂
Wen it calls for oil in a cake, which oil is used?
I typically use a neutral oil like Saffola
This cake is fabulous, thank you!
I made it for a Lebanese colleague’s birthday and everyone loved it. I made it vegan and also switched the oil for tahini because I’m obsessed with the date/tahini combo, and it turned out great.
Would you mind if I shared the recipe on my blog? I would link back to yours of course and use my own pictures 🙂
Oh that sounds wonderful. I love date and sesame combination, I can only imagine how wonderful it must have tasted. Please feel free to share on your blog, and appreciate you linking it to mine
Awesome thank you! I will let you know once it’s up, probably in the next month or so 🙂
Which oil did you use?
I used Safflowr oil
Hi there,
Your cake looks lovely.
I have a question. Does this cake have a dense texture or is it light and airy? I want to try this recipe on a two layer cake with coconut cream but would like to use alternative ingredients if it has a dense texture. Appreciate your help on this.
Ishtah
Hi there,
Your cake looks lovely.
I have a question. Does this cake have a dense texture or is it light and airy? I want to try this recipe on a two layer cake with coconut cream but would like to use alternative ingredients if it has a dense texture. Appreciate your help on this.
Ishtah
Excellent recipe of the date n walnut sugatless cake..so moist n very tasty.
Thank you for trying it and taking the time to give feedback.
Great, glad it worked
Made this with white whole wheat flour. Added 1 and 1/4 cups milk and extra 2 tbsps milk (since it was wheat) as per your suggestion. Did not add any sugar at all. I am crazy for nuts so I added half a cup walnuts and cashews mixed to the flour and tossed it in it. Decorated with cashew nuts and mini chocolate chips. Baked for 35 mins. Was a big hit. 🙂 Thank you.
Hi. Just chanced upon ur blog. The cake looks yum. May i know what size tin u used to bake it in?
[…] 1.This easy and simple recipe is adapted from here. 2. Make sure to use pitted dates and also chop your walnuts to bite size […]