Eggless Hazlenut & Dates Cake... and a lesson learnt!

I never had the courage to make an eggless cake before until I saw Hetal & Anuja bake one at Showmethecurry.com. I just couldn't make myself believe that they will have the same texture as the ones with the eggs. I mean ...I was taught in my Food Science classes that eggs give body to the cake! BUT this recipe proved it otherwise :)

I must also not forget to mention that I have very lil patience when it comes to waiting for the food to be cooked :D I always fiddle with it...and you are seeing one such attempt of mine :D
The cake had a lovely crumb and it has a real rich flavour of the dates, nuts and the condensed milk. It can really capture your heart! This is going into my 'collections' list :D as I know this recipe is for keeps! :)
Eggless Hazlenut & Dates cake
Recipe adapted from Showmethecurry.com and they inturn recieved it from their reader Annam.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

Dates - 20 (5oz or 150g)
Water - approx 1/2 cup, for soaking
Walnuts - 1/4 cup (30 g), chopped ( I used Hazlenuts given to me by my sweetheart Jobin)
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 14oz can (396g)
Unsalted Butter - 1 stick (4oz or 113g) [I used salted]
Baking Soda - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
All-purpose Flour - 1 1/4 cups (183 g)

Method:

1. Soak the Dates in warm water for about 30 minutes just to soften them.
2. Sift the All Purpose Flour along with the Baking Powder and the Baking Soda.
3. Press down on any lumps.
4. Make a paste of the Dates using as little water as possible either in a blender or a food processor.
5. Melt the butter so it is soft and mix it to the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda & baking powder).
6. Mix in the Dates paste and the Sweetened Condensed Milk. Mix well.
7. Fold in the Walnuts as well.
8. Spray/Grease a baking pan and pour the batter into it.
9. Bake in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees C/350 degrees F) for 40 minutes in the center of the oven.
10. Once done, take the cake out and allow it to stand for 5 minutes before taking it out of the pan.
11. Loosen the edges and flip the cake onto a cooling rack.
12. Serve hot or cold.

Annam’s tips:
1. Replace the dates with fruit - pineapples (sounds good)!
2. If you are planning to frost the cake, allow it to cool all the way thru.
3.When the oven door is open in-between according to the temperature some oven will need 50min to bake.
4. When too much water is added to dates while grinding,ihe cake tends to sink.

It's incredibly nutty,rich and moist! :)
It is an healthy option too since dates are a rich source of Iron & fibre.
LOL! look what I made out of that cake!! I just couldn't wait for it to cool down! I had to see the results soon!! I knew that I would spoil the shape and I knew I would regret it later... but sometimes (in my case everytime :P ) we just can't resist the urge to get it out rite! :D

So the lesson learnt is - Try and have some patience atleast when it comes to getting the cakes out of the tin! :P

Hope y'all had a great weekend!!

-Ria