Said Pastry Nerd
Hey

Want to learn step by step at your time but with my support ? Sign up a masterclass and :)

Sign up a master class and learn with me new recipes and tips.

All masterclasses >

Date, lemon and orange blossom cake.

Every year Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan. During this Holy Month, it is tradition to break your fast with dates.  Because of this, I grew up eating dates of various sorts of origins for years. I have to say that I love them for their bold and complex flavor and versatility.

But one thing that is unavoidable with dates: they get dry over time. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like dry dates !

That’s how I got this idea for a cake that makes use of these dry dates. Pastry is also about not wasting ingredients ! The trick to this recipe ? Soaking the dry dates in the milk of your choice for 24 h in the fridge. This will soften them and allow you to make a paste out of them. I added lemon zests and orange blossom water to this cake to enhance a delicate citrus flavor of this super moist cake! Hope you will enjoy.

Date, lemon and orange blossom cake.

Dates, lemon and orange blossom cake

5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Servings 8 people

Equipment

  • whisk
  • cake pan

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g pitted dates
  • 250 g milk to soak the dates
  • 40 g milk
  • 150 g butter room temperature
  • 80 g sugar
  • 140 g flour
  • 10 g baking powder
  • 2 tbsp orange blossom water
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 eggs

Instructions
 

Dates soaking

  • Soak the dates in one cup of milk overnight in the fridge (at least 12 hours)

Dates puree

  • With a food processor or a blender, puree the dates with only 40 g of the milk used for soaking, to get a date paste.

Mixing

  • Whisk the date paste with room temperature butter, sugar and salt. Whisk until everything is well combined. It is important that your butter is room temperature here otherwise it will be very difficult to mix everything together.
  • Add orange blossom water and zest of 2 lemons before whisking with eggs.
  • Add the flour and baking powder sifted and whisk.

Baking

  • Baking time will really depend on your oven. I bake for 50 min at 160C (320F). The best way to know if your cake is ready is to poke it in the center with a knife or a toothpick. You should stop as soon as the knife comes back dry. Any more than that, and it will get dry.

I love my slice of cake with a cup of chai or coffee!

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Nicolle

5 stars
Is orange blossom water something you can make or is it sold in stores? This recipe sounds delicious!

Andrew Meneguzzi

What size loaf pan do you suggest?