Cinnamon and Date Cake

The festive baking continues and this time I have a really simple recipe that will be guaranteed to impress. If you are short on time, whizz up this cake and impress your guests. It's a very simple cake but it's full of flavour. The cinnamon is subtle but definitely present and the dates gives the cake a lovely, sweet stickiness and more importantly does not taste like dates!

I'm entering this to several blog challenges

One Ingredient Challenge hosted by Laura from How to Cook Good Food and co hosted by Nazima from Franglais Kitchen. The ingredient this month is dates.

The Spice Trail :Cooking with Cinnamon hosted by Vanesther from Bangers & Mash

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and co-hosted by Laura from Laura loves Cakes. The theme this month is Jingle Bell Rock.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Eat your Veg. The theme this month is Party Food. This would be really quick and easy to make and guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

Let's Cook Christmas Party Food hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is cooking with Herbs and Christmas spices so I think my cinnamon will qualify.

 Boil the dates in water 

 whizz in a food processor 

 I bought this cake tin from Ikea

 ready to go in the oven 

 It was a little burnt so I covered it with icing and festive sprinkles! 

 

Recipe adapted from about.com 

300g pitted dates

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

170g butter

375g self raising flour

4 eggs

200g light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

• Preheat the oven to  180C.
• Place the dates in a medium sized saucepan and fill with enough water to cover the dates.
• Bring to the boil and remove from the heat.
• Drain the dates and whizz in a food processor until it has a paste like consistency.
• Add softened butter, eggs and sugar to the food processor and mix.
• Add in the flour and baking powder and continuing mixing until well mixed.
• Pour into a cake tin and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes (depends on the size of your tin). Do keep an eye on your cake as it browns quickly - I'd recommend checking after 20 minutes and then at 5-10 minute intervals as you may need to cover the cake with foil.
• Decorate with icing sugar and sprinkles or leave plain.