Dates Nuts Cake / Nutty Dates Cake - Eggless and Butterless

Dry Dates also called as "Perichampazham" in Tamil and "Kajoora Pandu" in Telugu are beneficial for overall well being due to the abundance of vitamins, minerals and  rich in dietary fiber. Using these dates as my main sweetener, I wanted to try out the Dates cake by following a very traditional recipe which I found in an Indian Food Magazine. Of course, I did few customization into the main recipe in order to suit my taste and inject few more nutrition into it. Neither eggs nor butter are included in this process but I generously added Nuts and made it so...delicious.Absolutely a very healthy treat to the kids and a guilt free dessert to all ages too...

Ingredients

Seedless Dates - Between 30 to 35.

Dry Grapes Seedless - 1/2 cup

Chopped Nuts - 1 Cup. ( Used Walnuts, Almonds,Cashew nuts, Pistachios )

Refined Oil - 1/2 Cup

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup

All Purpose Flour / Maida - 1/2 cup

Baking Soda - 1 tsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Powdered Sugar - 1/4 Cup

( If you want the cake sweetish, you could add 1/2 cup, we just want to enjoy the sweetness of the dates and dry grapes more..)

Method 

• Soak the dry dates in warm water for 3-4 hours. Grind the soaked dates along with the dry seedless grapes in a blender and make a paste. 

• In a big mixing bowl, add the sugar, milk, oil and baking soda. Stir them thoroughly and then add the flours and the grounded paste into the bowl.

• Add the chopped nuts too into the bowl and stir them till the contents mix well and get into smooth paste without any lumps. 
• Preheat the over to 375 F initially. Meantime, grease the baking pan with little oil and all purpose flour. 
• Transfer the cake mix into the Baking pan now. Shapes of the baking pan could be selected based on the occasion and your taste.
• Bake the cake in the over for 30-35 minutes at 200 F. After 25 minutes, definitely check whether the cake is nearing completion. Insert a fork or small stick into the cake and check to see whether it comes out cleanly or not. 
• If it comes out clean, then the dates cake is done. Carefully take out the pan and allow the cake to get completely cooled.
• After its cooled and come to the room temperature, turn it upside down and cut into desired shapes.

Dates cake is so rich, moist and nutty with an excellent tint of the dates flavour. You can also decorate the cake on its top and enjoy during special occasions.

Tips / Variations 

• Mix the baking soda with the flour and also with the contents uniformly.
• If you are calorie conscious, reduce the amount of oil to 1/4th and use 2% milk instead of full fat milk.
• If the dates are too dry, soaking them for overnight would be really helpful.