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Toffee Walnut Date Cake
How did I know you were JUST looking for a festive but simple, delicately spiced, and just-sweet-enough cake topped with the stickiest date caramel, studded with toasted walnuts to set on your counter and warm up the kitchen??
It goes perfectly with coffee, tea, mulled wine, or just about any beverage, so store this cake under a dome, and let people help themselves to a morning slice, afternoon snack, or midnight nibble as they like…
Toffee Walnut Date Cake
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 38 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients
Date Toffee:
2 cups Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped into ½-inch pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
Cake:
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup mild extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups almond flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
To serve:
½ cup heavy cream
½ vanilla bean pod, scraped
Instructions
•Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Pour hot water over the dates to cover in a medium bowl and allow to soak for 10 minutes to soften. Drain and discard the water. Grease a 9-inch cake pan (that is 2-inches deep) with olive oil and line with a circular piece of parchment paper.
•Make the Date Toffee. In a medium saucepan, add the butter, brown sugar, and water. Allow to melt over medium heat and stir until combined. The mixture will begin to simmer with small bubbles. Once simmering, allow to cook for about 3 minutes until just lightly thickened. Stir in the dates and walnuts then pour evenly over the bottom of the cake pan. Set aside.
•Prepare the cake batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, regular flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom until combined. Set aside.
•In a large bowl, add the eggs and sugar and whisk until well combined. Add the olive oil, vanilla and mix again to combine. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture in stages, until just incorporated.
•Toss the walnuts with the remaining tablespoon of flour and fold gently into the batter. Pour over the date toffee and bake for 30 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Run an offset spatula around the rim of the pan and set on a baking rack to cool.
•Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake plate and allow to cool another 10 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.
•Make the whipped cream. Whip the heavy cream with the vanilla bean seeds in a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium-high speed, or by hand using a large whisk until medium peaks form. Serve on top of the cake.
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