Moist date loaf single

Can you believe there are people out there with an aversion to fruit cooked into cakes, breads and slices?  Hard for me to believe, given I rarely discriminate against any type of food, or food combination for that matter.

I am an enormous fan of fruit packed cakes.  Sultana cake.  Fig cake.  Apricot cake.  Moist, rich cakes that are full to the brim with chunks of fruit.

Last year I experimented for the first time with date loaf – as part of some testing for some entries into the Queensland Royal Show cooking competition.  The recipe was as traditional as date loaf can be.  Delicious with a huge slab of butter and washed down with a cup of tea.  But I was curious to explore another version perhaps with merits of its own.

Enter Dorie Greenspan’s date-nut loaf recipe.  In fact, this was the recipe I used for my final entry.  (There were a few last minute recipe changes just before curtain call!) I made two loaves at the time.  One to enter, and one to taste later.

I was impressed at how moist this cake was, and how it seemed to keep for days.  The crumb is definitely lighter than the more traditional cake, and as a result, the date almost has a marbling effect.  (I did ‘re-hydrate’ dried dates to substitute for fresh dates, so partially to explain, too!)

Unfortunately, I did not win any ribbons for my date loaf entry – sorry Dorie, maybe next time?  But still worthy of baking up again, and even perhaps becoming a staple in the Mélanger household.

Moist date loaf set

{ Date-Nut Loaf } Recipe by Dorie Greenspan, from Baking: From my Home to Yours

I omitted the nuts and substituted re-hydrated dried dates in place of fresh.

* Ingredients *
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (250g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 oz (90g) cream cheese, room temperature
¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup soft pitted dried dates, each cut into 8 pieces
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

* Directions *
Preheat oven to 325F (160C).  Butter a 9 x 5 inch (22 x 12 cm) loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess.  Put the pan on a baking sheet.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, another 3 minutes or so.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the extracts.  The batter may look curdled – don’t worry, it will come together in a minute.  Reduce the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dates and nuts.  Turn the batter into the pan.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Cover the top of the cake with foil and bake for another 40 minutes or so until the top is honey brown, bumpy and cracked and a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Transfer the cake to a rack and cool about 10 minutes before unmolding.  Then cool to room temperature.