Mrs K's Date Cake

Mrs. K’s Date Cake From Sweet Freedom Cookbook


This is the kind of cake you like to have on hand as an after-school snack, or when you’re feeling peckish mid-morning.
Baked in a square pan, it will keep, covered on the counter, for up to 4 days, longer if refrigerated (though bring to room temperature before indulging).

Cake:

heaping 1/2 cup (75 g.) finely chopped dried (unsweetened) dates
1 cup (250 ml.) boiling water
1/2 cup (125 ml.) Sucanat
2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) finely ground flax seeds
1/4 cup (60 ml.) coconut milk, almond milk or soymilk
1/4 cup (60 ml.) sunflower or other light-tasting oil
2 tsp. (10 ml.) pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. (170 g.) light spelt flour
1 heaping Tbsp. (10 g.) dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml.) baking soda
1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml.) baking powder
1/4 tsp. (1 ml.) sea salt

Topping:

2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) Sucanat
1/4 cup (12 g.) unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup ( g.) dairy-free dark chocolate chips

Make cake: Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Lightly grease an 8-inch (about 20 cm.) square pan, or line with parchment paper.

Place the dates in a medium bowl and pour the boiling water over them; stir briefly. Add the sucanat, flax, milk, oil, and vanilla, and whisk to blend. Allow to sit until room temperature, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir to blend. Turn into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Sprinkle the topping ingredients over the cake: first, sprinkle the sucanat evenly over the surface of the batter. Cover with a sprinkling of the coconut, and end with the chocolate chips.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, turning the pan once about halfway through to ensure even baking, until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before cutting (if you cut this while hot, the melty chips will stick to the knife and you’ll have a blob of goo instead of a piece of cake). Makes 9 large or 12 medium-sized pieces. May be frozen.


Recipe from Sweet Freedom: Desserts You'll Love without Wheat, Eggs, Dairy or Refined Sugar. It's filled with over 100 recipes for cakes, muffins, scones, cookies, bars, pies, puddings, etc, all without dairy protein
http://sweetfreedomcookbook.wordpress.com
New Cookbook coming out May 15, 2009