This would have to be the very best, easiest and most impressive sticky date cake I have ever made - and trust me, I have made dozens of them. By using the best quality dates, the result is fabulous. Be generous with the salted caramel sauce, this really isn't the moment to by shy about such things (yes, I see you eating it by the spoonful!) Finally, a good sprinkle of our Umami Larder Spiced Bourbon Pecans adds that texture and crunch that finishes it off beautifully.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 225g caster sugar
- 180g butter, at room temperature
- 3 eggs
- 185g flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 150ml water
- 70ml milk
- 250g pitted Iranian dates or medjool (fresh) dates
- Greek yoghurt / whipped cream / vanilla ice cream, to serve
- 100g Umami Larder Spiced Bourbon Pecans to serve
Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 150g coconut sugar
- 150g brown sugar
- 50g butter
- 300ml coconut cream
- 1 tsp flaky salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Method
Preheat the oven 180 C. Line a ring tin with baking paper.
In a food processor, place the sugar, butter, eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, water and milk process for 15 seconds or until well combined.
Roughly chop the dates, add to the mixture and process for a further 40 seconds. You'll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times or until the dates are finely chopped and blended into the batter. Pour the batter into the ring tin and bake for 45 mins until golden or a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
While the cake cooks, you can get to making the caramel sauce. First, crush your Bourbon Spiced Pecans in a pestle and mortar until broken into a chunky crumb and set aside. Place the sugars, butter, coconut cream, salt and vanilla into a saucepan. Gently bring to a soft boil, then turn the heat down and simmer over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. The sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon. At this point, you can add the crushed bourbons and stir to combine.
To serve, remove cake from the tin and pour over the sauce. Serve warm with yoghurt, mascarpone, whipped cream or ice cream and dive in.
