GINGER DATE CAKE
Ginger Date Cake! A very delicious cake for both date lovers and date haters (like me). Soaked in a sticky salty toffee sauce. Must be served warm (and ideally with ice cream)!
Serves about 15
Total Time : 1 hour, 15 min.
Ginger Date Cake
Yield: 15-20
Prep time: 18 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 58 Min
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 lb dates, halved with seeds removed
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp minced ginger, packed
- 2 1/4 cup all Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 1/2 cups water, divided
- Butter for greasing
- flakey sea salt for topping (Optional)
- vanilla Ice cream for topping (Optional but recommended!)
Toffee Sauce
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
Equipment
- 10 X 14 inch Baking Tray
- Whisk
Instructions
- Halve and remove the seeds from 1 lb of dates. Add the dates to a pot with 2 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, add 2 tsp baking soda, stir well and let the mixture sit while you prepare the cake batter.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- To a large bowl (big enough to add your flour later on), whisk in 2 eggs, 1 cup water, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tsp minced ginger (packed).
- In a separate bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder.
- Return to your dates - using a fork or whisk break up any remaining large pieces of dates. You’ll have some smaller chunks remaining, but make sure any whole pieces are broken up.
- Add the dates to the wet ingredients and whisk well. Then add the dry ingredients in 2 parts (add half, mix well, add the second half, mix well)
- Grease a large 10x14 inch pan (see note 1) (get into the corners and edges). Add the batter to the pan and place in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (there might be some date that sticks to the toothpick, but as long as you’re not getting any wet batter, it’s done)
- Begin the toffee sauce while the cake is cooling. Melt 7 tbsp butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in 1 cup packed brown sugar. Once combined, stream in 1 cup milk while whisking constantly.
- Whisk for about 2-5 minutes until the sauce thickens up. it should resemble the consistency of a simple syrup - loose enough to soak into the cake. Once thickened, whisk in 1/2 tsp salt. If making in advance, reheat so it’s warm before adding it to the cake.
- Once the cake has mostly cooled, pierce the cake all over with a fork. Pour over 3/4 of the toffee sauce. Let it soak for at least 30 minutes.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of reserved toffee sauce. Top with flakey sea salt if you’d like!
Notes
1) Alternatively, you can use two 7x5" or two 9" pans.
2) To reheat the cake before serving, you can either place it in the microwave for 30-40 seconds, or place it in the oven (top covered with foil) at 300 F for 10-15 minutes.
3) The toffee sauce will firm up as it cools. To reheat, whisk it in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. You can add some water if necessary.