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Vegan Date Cake
September 14th, 2009 Madhuram Posted in Cakes, From Other Blogs, Vegan Baking | 
| 47 Comments »
Hi friends, I’m back. Actually I came back from India in the last week of August itself, but did not feel like blogging all these days. The trip was mostly good except when my son fell very sick when swine flu was at peak there. Thankfully it was regular flu and he is fine now. I thought of meeting all the food bloggers in Chennai but couldn’t organize it with an hectic schedule. Hope to make it at least the next time.
On a different note, ladies, do you think that your husband is not appreciative of your efforts you put in the home front? Doesn’t he help you around the house? Then pack your bags immediately and fly to India (or anywhere) and stay there at least for a month and see (enjoy) the respect you get when you come back! Even the simplest thing you do will be noticed by your better half. I’m loving it!
I didn’t bake much in the past 2 weeks but for the vegan chocolate cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday (she came with us) and Shilpa’s eggless date cake. The date cake has been in my to-bake list for quite sometime now. Somehow I didn’t get a chance to bake it until recently. We got a big pack of (Lion brand) seedless dates from India and I wanted to use it up. My son also has started going to school full time and I have to pack lunch for him. He usually eats some fruit or some healthy sweet after his lunch and dinner. So I decided to bake this cake.
This date cake has got raving reviews and I have also tasted it myself when my friend Lakshmi baked it for me as muffins. I followed the original recipe mostly but made some changes:
1 I wanted to try a vegan version because I was having some unsweetened soy milk at home. Sometimes soy milk (some brands) can leave an after taste. So I also added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract which was not mentioned in the original recipe. You can also try flavoring it with cardamom powder.
2 We had kept the dates in the refrigerator and it was very hard. So I soaked it in 3/4th cup warm soy milk. I left it soaked for nearly 15-16 hours. Maybe that much soaking is not required but I didn’t find time to bake it earlier. I blended it in my food processor with the required amount of sugar and while doing so felt that some more liquid might be necessary. So added another 1/4 cup of soy milk (this is not mentioned in the original recipe).
3 1/2 cup of oil is mentioned in the original recipe. Shilpa also mentions that she has tried baking the cake without oil and it turned out good as well, dense though. So I used 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce. Measured the oil in liquid measuring mug and the applesauce in dry measuring cup.
The quantity of sugar mentioned is 3/4 cup but I scooped out 2 tablespoons of sugar after measuring.
4 Another change I made was adding 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts instead of just a tablespoon.
5 After incorporating the flour to the wet ingredients I felt that some more liquid can be added so I used 1 tablespoon water.
6 I did not want to frost the cake so I was thinking of something to make the cake look good and the idea of using blanched almonds clicked. So I decided to bake it in an 8-inch square pan and use 16 almonds (4 rows and 4 columns) to decorate the cake, so that I can cut the cake into 16 pieces and each piece will be adorned by one almond. The idea worked and the cake looked very good and was easy to pack as well.
7 My cake was done around the 32nd minute itself. The smell lets you know and you can also see the cake pulling from the sides of the pan. Move the pan to a wire cooling rack. Left it like that for an hour. Tried removing it from the pan later but couldn’t. So I stored it in the fridge overnight and it came out without any difficulty in the
morning.
The cake tasted very good. I’m sure that I’m going to bake this date cake quite often. It’s a hit with everybody in my family and my mother-in-law has already asked me to bake this for her when she leaves to India.
Thank you very much Shilpa for posting such an awesome recipe. Special thanks to your aunt for coming up with this fantastic recipe.
I would also like to thank Vaishali for suggesting my blog for the Tried and Tasted Event (which highlights one food blog every month and other food bloggers cook from that blog) started by Zlamushka. Thanks to Zlamushka for accepting the suggestion and also to Poornima for hosting it this month.
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August 17th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
HI. tried your date cake because it was inviting although i hate dates. used 1 1/2 cup sugar and replaced oil with melted butter + carotino oil and used evaporated milk.even decorated with almond flakes.. turned out superbly. although no date lover the texture was good and it tasted better th next day. waiting to get mom’s opinion . she is date lover. anyhow kudos to shilpa n u for baking an eye pleasing cake…
Didn’t I tell you Malar! That date cake recipe is such an amazing one. It yields well even though with a lot of changes.
August 12th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Hi Madhuram,
I stumbled upon your blog 2 days back when I was searching for eggless baking. This cake looks so tempting and I desperately want to try it..Do you think this would come out in a Microwave oven? Thanks.
I’m sorry Gayathri I don’t have experience in baking in a microwave oven. Maybe this link will help you. http://chefinyou.com/2010/05/baking-in-microwave-convection-oven/
August 12th, 2010 at 6:40 am
This cake looks so inviting that I m going to bake it first thing tomorrow. I dont even like dates, so credit should go to
you for baking such an eye pleasing cake …. hope my cake turns as well as yours.
Malar, I’m sure you wouldn’t be disappointed. I have tried it so many times and it actually doesn’t taste anything like dates.
July 10th, 2010 at 6:40 am
hi,
this website is very good. nice learning for young chef.
June 16th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Hi Madhu, this is meena here again – thanks for your prompt response- I did double all the ing in the date care as reqd.
You are bang on it did take me 55 min. I got such encouraging responses from my friends here with the cake, I have baked it more than a few time already. Some of the local aussie girls here think its the best cake that they have ever had, and now that stunned me.
All credit goes to you and I cant thank you enough for this recipe.I am sure you will find me a reg user of this blog .If there is any recipe I could share with you I would be more than happy. I do have an interesting recipe of an eggless butterless recipe of something like a trail bar. Terribly healthy and tastes a lot like a nougat bar.
From one chennaite to another.
You’re welcome Meena. Actually the credit for the cake goes to Shilpa. Please do feel free to share any eggless baking recipes in the forum. Register for free and start sharing your recipes. I would love to try the bars recipe you are mentioning.
June 5th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Hi, I was browsing around and found your blog- your date cake recipe rules. I did have a few problems I am hoping you might be able to tell me what I did wrong. Well to begin with I used one and half times the quantity you have specified in the recipe- the cooking time was longer- MUCH longer – I was so unsure I had to pull check a few times, by the time the cake cooked it was almost an hour and the worst was the top burnt a bit and the sides got a bit hard. It wasnt as moist after baking to ensure it was cooked – and when I did slice it up many hours later – it didnt cut clean there was some bits that stuck to the cake plate. despite all of this I have been dubbed the queen of egless cake- Thanks to you.
Hi Meena, unlike cooking doubling/halving a baking recipe does not always give perfect results. Some recipes work out fine without any problem but most of the baking recipes have to be perfected on a trial and error basis only when playing with the measurements. The use of leaveners like baking powder and soda alters the chemical reactions and simply can’t be doubled or halved. You have mentioned that you changed the measurements in the original recipe, did you also change the size of the pan? That also has to be changed accordingly and that also affects the baking time. Did you also increase the quantity of dates and other ingredients proportionately? In that case, I’m guessing the cake would be done around 55 minutes. Actually for this particular cake I was able to tell that the cake was done just with the smell of it. You start to get the burnt smell even if it is left a little bit longer.
February 16th, 2010 at 10:45 am
I have been a long time lurker, though posting for the first time. I made your date cake a couple of time in the past-came out very tasty, just a bit dense. I used 1/2 cup fat free yogurt in place of oil/apple sauce every time. I also used a lot of nuts and some sweetened coconut flakes (once). This morning I used the same recipe and baked muffins-They are the best ever,beautiful, golden brown, good rise, and smooth dome (I’ve had trouble with the rise/shape in the past). I am so happy, so I thought I’ll let you know.
Sandya, the credit goes to Shilpa for this wonderful recipe. I would have thought that using yogurt would have given a light instead of a dense cake.