Sunday 8 May 2016

Date, honey and walnut cake




Whenever we go on a trip out there are usually two purchases I make: a fridge magnet, and a jar of local honey.  My latest honey acquisition came after a visit to an Essex Wildlife Trust centre at the wonderfully named FingringhoeWick.  It doesn’t sound like it should be a real place!




I’ve spent a lot of time recently sorting through my cookbook collection; it had got out of hand and so disorganised following our house move (over 18 months ago now – eek! No excuse anymore!) that I couldn’t find anything.  Now it’s all nicely arranged by type, so I had no trouble locating an old cookbook I have dedicated entirely to honey.




This simple cake stood out as the one to make; I’ve boosted the quantities a bit but the ratios remain the same.  With the weather predicted to be warm, I didn’t want anything too fiddly or involving buttercreams – and this cake couldn’t be easier or quicker to make.




Don’t be fooled by this cake’s plain Jane looks; it packs a glorious punch with comforting flavours and a soft texture punctuated by walnuts and chewy dates.  It’s a more old fashioned sort of crumbly sponge and the walnuts stop it getting too sweet, which you might think it would be given the inclusion of sugar, honey and dates. It really is worth making.  Keeps well too…which might not be an issue!




Ingredients

185g unsalted butter, at room temperature
115g castor sugar
75g runny honey
3 eggs
115g dates, chopped
115g walnuts, chopped
300g self raising flour


Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan oven 160C/350F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Beat together the butter, sugar and honey until light, soft and whippy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Mix in the dates, walnuts and flour and ensure everything is well combined.

Spoon into the prepared tin, level the surface and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Start checking it after 40 minutes, as ovens vary.

Leave to cool in the tin until you can safely handle; de-tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.


Eat

9 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

This is more like my cake compared to the one loaded with buttercream. Date, walnut and honey sound just fabulous together.

Jean said...

It looks and sounds wonderful. A lovely combination of flavours.
I'm glad you got round to organising your cook books, it's very satisfying......time I did mine!

Cakelaw said...

That's a great place name. This cake looks wonderful.

Snowy said...

Lovely combination of flavours. It looks great.

Choclette said...

I do love a good honey cake and this one looks like it might pass muster. But what I really want now is to see your fridge door!

Maggie said...

This looks delicious. What is "runny honey" though?

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Maggie
By 'runny' I meant not set!
Happy baking

Maggie said...

Thanks for the honey tip. It was delicious. Easy to follow, even for an American beekeeper.

Nickki said...

What a gorgeous sounding cake!