Recipe: Dates Cake with Walnuts

I've written about dates before, the kind of fruit abundant in Middle Eastern countries. Dad, being an OFW in Qatar would usually bring home boxes of dates for personal consumption. However, we never really get to appreciate its taste. Dates looks quite similar to prunes and even smell like one - but they're too dry, unlike prunes (which I really like) and not really that tasty.

Dates bought from Qatar

While researching over the internet, I thought that maybe I can do something about these dates that has been sitting in the kitchen for weeks. I found some Indian inspired recipes but it looks too complicated, especially on looking for the required spices. But when I was just about to give up, I saw this site http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/05/27/date-cake-eggless/ and basically work from there. I never thought I could bake a cake made of dates! In addition, the ingredients were readily available in our pantry. So after lunch, I decided to give it a try, tweaked it a little bit and came up with this Dates Cake with Walnuts recipe:

Dates Cake

Ingredients:

18 seedless dates 

3/4 cup milk (evap works fine)

3/4 cup brown sugar 

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup oil 

1 tsp baking soda 

2 tbsp walnuts (crushed)

Procedure

1. Heat milk and dates for a few minutes just so seedless dates becomes tender so it's easier to grind.

2. Pour the milk and dates onto the blender, add the sugar and blend to a smooth paste.

3. Pour the mixture into a bowl and mix with oil.

4. Sieve together the flour and baking soda. Adding the dry components to the paste mixture one at a time.

5. Add walnuts and slightly mix.

6. Bake for 350°F for 35-40 minutes.  

I hope this recipe can reach out to a number of families whose members have been working in Middle Eastern countries. I'm sure you guys have tried these dates. You may like it as it is, but if you don't, I really urge you to try this recipe. It's a hit in my family!