Eggless Date Cake/Loaf

This one is NOW another family favorite. I have lost count of how many i have baked since last summer. My hunt for various ways to enjoy this sugar fruit (as i call it) started when i realized that my hemoglobin count was low (i was expecting then) and my doctor recommended intake of dates everyday. I was never really a fan of this fruit, and to be in a sense compelled to eat it especially during my pregnancy period was quite a torture. I remember how my hubby and mom-in-law use to call me up from their work places to check how many dates i have taken that day :). It was like a punishment, and no i was not happy at all.

So i goggled around, to find out how best to enjoy it and i came across aayis recipes, and there starts this journey of my romance with this sugar fruit. This really is one great cake. Everyone and i mean, literally everyone who ever has tasted this cake JUST loves it. The fact that i am now INTO dates is proof enough i must say:).

I have tweaked around with this cake, as always :), and i love making it just with plain flour, as well as a combination of plain and some whole wheat flour, like the one i made today. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

11/3 Cups - All Purpose Flour + Whole Wheat Flour

1 Cup - Dates, deseeded

1/4 Cup - Veg' Oil

1 Cup - Milk

1/3 Cup - Sugar

1 Tsp - Baking Soda

If you prefer a softer texture and do not like the loaf kinda texture you may want to avoid the whole wheat flour altogether and just use plain flour. Since the dates are already very sweet, you can decrease the quantity of sugar even further.

Every time that i have baked this, i have pureed the dates, but today i made it by just chopping it up into small cubes, why? my grinder gave way few days back, but boy am i glad, because i love it even more this way. Talk about discovery by default:). So this is how it looked like inside....

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees, grease a baking pan of your choice and keep aside
2. Deseed and wash the dates in warm water, rinse and chop it up fine
3. Sieve the flours and baking soda in a bowl and keep aside
4. Taking another bowl, measure the sugar and the wet ingredients and mix it till well combined
5. Make a well in the middle and pour the wet into the dry, blend it well
6. Fold in the chopped dates and transfer the batter into the prepared pan
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes

Note: If you prefer to puree the dates do refer to the original recipe here.

Happy Baking!!