Mavis' Date & Walnut Cake

This is one of the staples for the market stall and sells well each time. It is also a family favourite making a moist and sticky cake.

Mavis is my late mother-in-law and this is her recipe. Mavis was a fabulous baker and very kindly gave me some of her recipes. We miss you Mavis, but every D&W brings you straight back in our thoughts! :-) Here she is on a trip to Scotland with her husband, Fred.

It’s a very simple cake to make and never fails.

So here’s the recipe:

2 cups plain flour

1 cup brown sugar – I use golden caster sugar

125g margarine

2 level teaspoons of baking powder

1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1 packet of dates (approx. 250g)

70g chopped walnuts

Method

Chop the dates up (I usually cut smaller ones in half and bigger ones into three). Place in a bowl and just cover with boiling water. Set aside to cool.

Set the oven to 150C/130C Fan/300F/Gas2

Sift the flour into a large bowl and mix in the baking powder and sugar. Add the margarine and rub it all together with your fingertips to form fine crumbs.

Once you have got to the crumb stage mix in the walnut pieces and then make a well in the centre.

Pour the soaked dates and the water into the well and beat the mixture until the batter is smooth (lumps of dates and walnuts excepted of course).

Divide the batter between two 1lb loaf tins. I always use a cake liner, so if you don’t use one make sure the tin is well buttered and floured or lined with baking parchment.

Place in the oven on the centre shelf and bake for approximately one hour to 75 minutes. As ovens vary so much I would advise checking on it from about 50 minutes or so. Use the skewer test in the centre of the cake to check if it is done – it should come out clean with no uncooked cake batter on it.

I have also divided this mix into four ½ lb loaf tins and it works just as well, baking time reduces to 40-45 minutes.

When cooled eat it straight away, but my advice is wait for 24 hours and if you can 48 even better as it gets stickier and quite frankly, yummier!

Have a go and enjoy!