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Date & Walnut Cake

A moist floral orang cake spiced with cinnamon and a crunchy walnut crust. The dates are like little pockets of flavor running through the cake with a jam like texture.

Date & Walnut Cake is is stashed away as one of those childhood memories of mine. I fondly remember buying the cake from 20th Century in Malad (Mumbai, India) on a Sunday after Church. This cake soon became my dad’s favorite came to eat. Till this day it is his favourite cake to eat.

Every occasion and even regular days were hence forth celebrated with this Date & Walnut Cake. So it is only right that I share this recipe with you as it not only has a sentimental element to it but it certainly satisfies all those taste buds.

It is very easy to make and stores well for upto a week, it can also be frozen and warmed up in the microwave late. Howevr I like to slice and toast it as the outside gets crispy, great to dip into some tea. The equipment needed to make this cake is so basic and still yields a perfect outcome.

What ingredients do you need to make this date & walnut cake?

Wet ingredients –

Warm water, orange juice, vanilla, eggs, brown butter and dates.

Dry ingredients –

Flour, almond flour, walnuts, brown sugar, castor sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt.

What equipment do you need to make this date & walnut cake?

We need a large mixing bowl whisk and rubber spatula to mix the batter together. I use a small sauce pot to brown the butter and a another bowl to soak the dates in the warm water and orange juice. 

How to make this date & walnut cake?

Preheat the oven to 180℃ and line an 8/9 inch tin with oil and baking paper. Set its aside. In a bowl add the warm water, chopped and pitted dates, baking soda and orange juice. In a large bowl add the eggs, brown sugar and castor sugar. Whisk until smooth, pale and creamy. Add the vanilla and browned butter, whisk until combined. Add the flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, salt and walnuts. Mix togehter briefly with a rubber spatula and half way through add the soaked date mixture and mix again until smooth. Pour into the prepared tin and top with more walnuts and Demerara sugar. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool completely before slicing and serving with tea or coffee. 

A few Substitutes:

Eggless –

 Substitute 1 egg with ¼ cup yogurt or 2 flaxseed eggs.

Gluten Free – 

Any gluten free flour mix works well in this recipe, you could just as well use Almond Flour.

Vegan – 

You can replace the egg with 2 flaxseed eggs and the butter with oil.

Orange – 

You could use lemon juice, we need the acid here to react with the baking soda hence it is important. This makes the cake fluffy and tender. 

Sugar – 

I like using brown sugar as it enhances the caramel flavor in this cake however, you can you any sugar you have and coconut sugar works well here.  You could also use any sugar substitutes as well just keep a note of the sweetness as they tend to be sweeter than regular sugar. Also just before baking I like to use some Demerera sugar as it adds a beautiful crunch to the cake but you could leave it out.

Keto Diet – 

Replace the flour with almond flour, increase the butter to 6 tbsp and reduce the liquid by 3 tbsp. The sugar can be substituted with honey or any sweeteners you use like stevia, agave, etc.

Baking directions

Microwave – 

The oven can be baked in the microwave in two methods: i) Convection – some microwaves have an oven setting nd allow you to bake in them as you would in an oven. Ensure to preheat your microwave to the desired temperature and only then place the cake inside to bake. Cakes bake faster in a microwave so kindly check your cake after 20 mins and keep baking for 2 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. ii) Regular Heating – this is a regular heating mode where you can heat your food. You can place the prepared cake batter in a microwave proof dish and bake it for 18 mins on heating mode, at this stage keep checking it every 2 mins with a tooth pick. Cakes have a tendency to dry out when baked in a microwave hence you could always brush over some orange juice/sugar water (syrup)/ brandy as well to help moisten up the cake.

Baking tray – 

i) This massively affects the overall baking time of the cake. If you are using a larger baking tray you cake will be shorter in height and longer in width, this would take 25-28 mins to bake. ii) This batter can be baked into muffins for a breakfast snack as well; they will bake at the same temperature for 16-18mins. iii) I have made this cake in bundt tray and it is beautiful, however you need to spray you bundt tin with baking spray or brush the tin with oil and dust with flour to ensure it does not stick. The cooking time will wary on the size of the tin but for a 1liter bundt tin it will bake for 32-35 mins

So enough talk and let me take you down my memory lane with this recipe. Happy Baking!

Now that we have covered how to make this date & walnut cake, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it. 

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.

Date Walnut & Cake

A moist floral orang cake spiced with cinnamon and a crunchy walnut crust. The dates are like little pockets of flavor running through the cake with a jam like texture.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Bread, Breakfast, Cake, Sweet tooth
Cuisine American
Servings 12 Slices

Equipment

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Baking tin (9inch)
  • Heatproof bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Dates (pitted and chopped)
  • ¾ cup Walnuts (roughly chopped)
  • 1/4 cup Walnuts (whole for the top of the cake)
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp Baking powder
  • ½ cup Water (warmed)
  • ½ cup Orange juice
  • 2 nos Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup Castor sugar
  • 3 tbsp Butter (browned)
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
  • 1 1/4 cup Flour
  • 1/2 cup Almond flour
  • Pinch of Salt

Topping -

  • Walnuts
  • Demerara sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an 8/9 inch cake with oil and then baking paper.
  • In a heat proof bowl add the warm water, chopped dates, baking soda and orange juice. Set aside. In a mixing bowl add the eggs and the sugar, whisk well until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has gotten pale.
  • Add the butter and vanilla, whisk briefly.
  • Sift over the flour and spices, add the salt and chopped walnuts and fold briefly.
  • Pour the date mixture with all the liquid into the bowl and using the spatula fold the ingredients together until combined.
  • Transfer to the baking tin and top with additional walnuts and granulated sugar.
  • Bake for 38-40 mins until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Notes

  • Check the substitutes above for more information.
  • Make sure to do a tooth pick test/knife test once it is baked to know if the cake is done.

4 thoughts on “Date & walnut cake (updated)”

  1. My-Hoa

    Hello! I made this and it is DELICIOUS! I used clementine juice instead of o.j. because that’s what we had. One comment is that your recipe does not include the measurement for how much vanilla extract to use. I ended up using 1 tsp and it came out delicious. Thank you!!! What a wonderful texture!

    Reply
    2. My-Hoa

      Okay, this Christmas-New Year season, I have baked this delicious date walnut orange cake at least 7 times and given it to close friends and family. Everyone absolutely loves it! Thank you for such a a consistently delicious, moist, overall amazing cake! By the way, I ran out of vanilla extract and subbed Courvoisier cognac……just as delicious!

      Reply

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