Apple and Date Cake
Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 02:11PM 
I’m lucky enough to have a few fruit trees in my garden. We have a pear tree and a few plums – dark, maroon fat ones and some little, delicate golden globes. But sadly, we don’t have an apple tree. I grew up only quarter of a mile away from an apple farm; in fact, it was at the end of our lane, the only thing between us and it being a wobbly cycle along a bumpy track. Without knowing how lucky we were, we could go to that farm on nearly any day of the year and fill up our empty bottles with freshly pressed, hummingly sweet apple juice. It truly was nectar and we were lucky if we got home without drinking half of our spoils, a fact that seemed to be well tolerated by our mum. Ever since, I’ve had a long held passion for apples and anything containing apples therein. Perhaps it’s that they are so wonderfully, reliably English, the last bastions in my memory of a country idyll. It’s more likely that they taste delicious, the varieties – if you buy locally and seasonally – varying from a sharp, crisp crunch to melodious sweet bite, running with juice. I do so love an apple and given the opportunity will cook with them from sweet to savoury: apple crumble, apple turnovers, pork boulangere, beef and apple curry; all get my vote.
This cake is a simple and delicious way of making an afternoon cup of tea go further, although it would also make a rather lovely pudding, served warm with a little almond ice cream. It’s a slim, light number that uses apple puree to both flavour and bind. Using apple puree in place of eggs is a much favoured trick of mine, you can use it easily in baking to pull your batter together and it is especially good in fruity puddings, the distinctive apple tang just adding another dimension to the dish. You can buy natural, unsweetened apple puree from most health food shops but if in doubt, check the baby foods aisle in your local supermarket; they usually have a simple pureed apple that works a treat. Alternatively, you could make your own by simple cooking down a few eating or cooking apples with a drop of water and then blitzing with a hand held blender until a smooth puree.
APPLE AND DATE CAKE
Serves 8
You will need a 7 inch cake tin with removable base for this recipe
120g dairy-free margarine – Pure Sunflower Spread
130g light muscovado sugar
100g apple puree
180g Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
80g dates, stoned
Preheat the oven to 150c and lightly grease and line the cake tin. Finely chop the dates and then place the margarine and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy before stirring in the apple puree.
Sift in the flour and cinnamon and fold in with a wooden spoon until smooth. Gently stir in the chopped dates and then spoon the mixture into the cake tin and level the top with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until golden and firm on top – the cake won’t rise so just look for a slight crispness to the surface. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Once cooled, dust over a little icing sugar and serve.
Reader Comments (6)
Stunning cake! Looking forward to seeing you at the weekend x
Thanks Molly, not raw enough for this weekend though! x
This looks like justmy sort of thing! I have just added dates to my shopping list! yum
That sounds great Bev, hope you like it!
Since discovering my gluten and egg intolerances a few years ago, I have not had cake. I assumed that cake without gluten and egg would taste of cardboard. How wrong was I?!! This was delicious!!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe :). Now that I've bought some flaxseed, I shall be trying other cake recipes of yours too x
Hi Kerry, I'm so glad you liked it and your message made my day, thanks! Get baking, there's lots more on the way :)
Pippa x