This earthy date syrup cake was made for me a few days after I gave birth to my first child, Yasmin, just over 11 years ago. Yasmin was born at home, and my one request was for friends and relatives to prepare nourishing meals for us during that first week. A friend and relative, Rotem, baked this wonderfully moist, comforting cake on one of those days.
I love to serve it with thick Greek yoghurt drizzled with maple syrup. It is delicious without being overly sweet. The key is to get good-quality pure date syrup that is rich and dark.
update
A heartfelt thank you to all who visited this site and made this Date Syrup Cake. It has been many years since I made it, and it seems to be the one cake that gets the most views, so I decided to revisit it, give it a vegan option, and make it shine with new photos.
tip
When replacing the eggs with a flax egg, add ¼ cup/30g tapioca flour to the dry ingredients. The tapioca will help bind and add crispness to the baked cake. You can use cornstarch or arrowroot in its place.
gluten-free variation
Increase the flax seeds to ¼ cups/22g soaked in ½ cup/100g water; replace the wheat flour with 1 cup/130g millet flour, ½ cup/45g gluten-free oat flour, ½ cup/45g almond flour.
ROTEM’S DATE SYRUP CAKE
makes 1 x 11-inch loaf pan or 8-inch square pan or 10 cupcakes (bake – 25-30 mins)
ingredients
½ cup/100g butter (room temperature) or 100g melted coconut oil/vegan butter
¾ cup/255g silan (date syrup)
2 eggs or 2 Tbsp/12g ground flax soaked for 10 mins in ¼ cup/50g hot water
¼ cup/50g nut milk
rind from one lemon
1 cup/140g whole-wheat flour
1 heaped Tbsp ginger powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine rock salt
1½ cups/150g finely chopped walnuts/pecans (Blitz for a few seconds in the food processor or gently pound with a rolling pin in a zip-lock bag. Aim for a mix of powder and knobbly bits).
preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan and set aside.
- Cream the butter (or coconut oil) and silan together using a hand mixer or whisk until soft and well-mixed. Add the eggs (or flax egg), milk, and lemon zest. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then stir in the walnuts (set aside three tablespoons for sprinkling on top) and fold into the wet mixture—stir well to combine.
- Pour mixture into the prepared pan, sprinkle remaining walnuts over the top, and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until well-risen, golden, and springy to the touch.
Goodness shared from Stacey
6 responses
This sounds very simple and easy. Just what I was looking for. Not sure you’re still on this site as the recipe is from 2010, but I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Yes, I am still here.
Would love to hear how it turns out!
I have been meaning to do a variation on this cake without eggs as I don’t eat eggs anymore and this cake was a favourite. The Spice Cake is also a must to try.
It is lovely you came to visit.
I tried it, it came out really well. Thankyou
If I use the gluten free flour mix can I still use 2 eggs or do I have to swap in the soaked flax?
Hi Nicki,
Yes, you can use the eggs in the gluten-free flour mix! I love to hear how it turns out.
Delicious!! If I make this again, I’ll line the baking dish with parchment (the cake stuck a bit to the bottom because I stored it in the fridge) and use less fat (I think 1/3c butter would be enough).
Thanks for the recipe!