This date and walnut cake recipe is simple to make and perfect for any celebration. It’s a very moist loaf cake that tastes great when buttered and cut into slices. In an airtight container, it keeps quite well, but in my home, it rarely lasts more than a day until it’s all gone.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 1 large loaf |
Ingredients
- 4 ounces pitted chopped dates
- 2 ounces margarine
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces self-rising flour
- 6 ounces brown sugar
- 2 ounces chopped walnuts
- 1 large egg, beaten
Instructions
- Place dates and margarine in a bowl with boiling water and baking soda. Gently mix with a wooden spoon until margarine has melted and dates are plumped up. Let cool to room temperature, at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a 2-pound loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, brown sugar, and walnuts in a separate bowl. Add to bowl with the date mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add egg and mix in. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
- This cake freezes very well and can be made in advance.
- I have found this recipe is perfect when used with a metal loaf tin, rather than a silicone one. As silicone loaf tins can sometimes lose shape, and the cake mixture may spill out over the sides.
- I much prefer to use the loaf pan liners that are readily available in supermarkets, dollar stores, and kitchen specialty shops. I’ve purchased from different shops and all have been the same excellent quality; the only difference has been the cost.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 324 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 53 g |
| Cholesterol | 23 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 595 mg |
| Sugars | 30 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I really liked it. It was very easy and tasty. I used pecans because I prefer them.
Absolutely delicious. But because of the high sugar content I will be trying to cut back on sugar next time. Better make two. It won’t last long.
Followed the directions exactly and it turned out perfect! Delicious. will definitely be making it again.
Fav
Took exactly 60 minutes. I added a good heaped teaspoon of mixed spice to add to the flavour. Next time I will use wholemeal flour as I think it would give it more depth. If anyone is thinking about whether to make it or not I say DO IT!! It’s really good
I made this yesterday and it’s bloomin marvelous! I used half light brown sugar and half dark brown, other than that I stuck to the recipe. This one has gone into my favs collection, absolutely gorgeous.
LOVE this recipe – baked this afternoon and my daughter enjoyed it – it’s easy to prepared and like the moist texture. I reduce sugar to 160g and added 2tbsp Yogurt Thank you for sharing – Lots of ?? Linda from Singapore
Delicious! I made this yesterday because I happened to have a bag of rather hard dates in the back of the pantry. I used dark brown sugar and it was lovely. My husband and I enjoyed it so much that I’m making another one as I type this
I also added chocolate chip everything is better with chocolate chip chips
Absolutely delicious, rich and moist just like my Nana used to make!!!
Great cake, you can add a tablespoon of organic mollases to the recipe, and I finished the top of the cake with an additional sprinkle of walnuts. Tasted amazing! Easy to follow recipe, so moreish.
Cleaning pantry out today and found very very hard dates… and I had walnuts… searched for a recipe and here it was! I soaked dates as recipe but for about 2.5 hours, then gave them a rough chop. Followed recipe but doubled quantities and made mix into 4 x 1lb tins. Baked for about 40 mins Turned out great, taste so good and will be even better tomorrow. Flavour reminded me of sticky toffee pudding and I reckon some toffee sauce would go very nicely with a warmed thick slice of this loaf… with ice cream… or cream. Thank you.
First time I made this last Sunday ( 08- 12-2019 ) it was easy to follow, got the timing right, it tasted better after a day of mellowing, will definitely make it again, friends thought it was spot on, for a 76 year gt. grand father it was a good recipe thanks for a good foolproof recipe.
I was looking for something to add to the Snack rotation we take to work. This is ideal, moist and rich. Made exactly as the recipe describes, is now a favorite in our house