Christmas Dessert Ideas

Cinnamon Dates Cake

Fresh dates are nutritional yet delightful delicacies in Middle Eastern desserts, and are soft and moist and will go well with cakes.

This recipe here is certainly the kind of cake that would wow your party guests. Instead of the usual genre of Christmas dessert ideas for cakes, try this special Middle Eastern delicacy for a pleasant change.

2 cups 			Arabian Honey Dates; halved and pitted
2 1/2 cups      		Self Raising Flour
2 tsp	        		Baking Powder
10 tbsp	 		Fresh Milk
1 cup	        		Softened Butter
4 	        		Medium Eggs
1 cup	        		Brown Sugar
2 tsp	        		Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp	 		Mixed Spice
1/4 cup			Apricot Jam

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Sift self raising flour with baking powder, ground cinnamon and mixed spice. Set aside first.

Meanwhile, add water to cover 1 1/2 cups of dates in a pot. Boil and process softened dates with a food processor into paste. Leave remaining dates for decoration.

Beat butter until light and fluffy before adding brown sugar. Beat well. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add in warm dates. Blend well. Using a large metal spoon, fold in sifted flour mixture alternating with milk. If you find the batter to be turning moist, do not add any more milk. Do not over-mix batter.

Pour batter into greased baking pan. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.

To decorate cake, allow cake to cool first. Melt apricot jam over low heat until melted. Arrange dates slices on top of cake and lightly brush warm jam over dates for glaze.

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