In our house, we love cakes that are interesting and a bit unexpected. Pulling in flavors and ingredients that are not always displayed together but work well together is something I especially love to do for an unexpected delight. This cake does just that! It is rich and delicious- full of walnuts, dates and orange for a lovely twist.
Baking with dates
Dates tend to have a bad rep, placed in the prune and fig food category that is impossible to get kids to eat and is often forgotten about. What makes them so great to bake with though is they add a level of moistness to cakes that is very difficult to achieve. Additionally, the sugars from the dates comes across so beautifully, but not too much, meaning frostings and fillings can still be used with date sponges and not overly sweet. I like to chop my dates finely rather than blending them down because the soft chew of them adds to the texture for me as well, but you can cook yours down even smaller.
Did you know dates can also substitute sugar in recipes? Date puree can substitute 1 cup of sugar by pureeing 1 cup of pitted dates with 1/2 – 1 cup hot water to form a thick paste. Boasting a very good nutrition profile, full of fiber, and anti-oxidants, and a natural sweetener, what is not to love with baking with dates?!
Baking with oranges
What doesn’t go well with oranges?! Baking with oranges and creating new and interesting cakes and pastries will easily be one of your biggest strengths when you see how many ingredients pair with orange. Other exceptional combinations include almond, anise, banana, basil, berries, cherry, chocolate, cilantro, cinnamon, clove, coffee, cranberry, fig, ginger, grape, grapefruit, hazelnut, lemon, mint, nutmeg, persimmon, pineapple, pomegranate, rosemary, vanilla, and walnut. Bold flavors go well with citrus and lead to bold cakes. Lets get to this one!
If hints of orange are your thing, try these Cranberry Orange Muffins.
Orange-Date Cake with Walnuts
Ingredients
Cake:
15 egg whites
2–1/4 cups sugar
2 cups walnuts (chopped)
2 cups dates (chopped)
1 cup all purpose flour
Filling:
4 cups of milk
1–1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
15 egg yolks
Juice and zest of one orange
1.5 cups cornstarch
1 cup + 6 tablespoons butter
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 360F.
First, chop the walnuts and dates, place both in a bowl, add flour, and mix it all together.
This cake has three layers. In my KitchenAid, I can mix 10 egg whites with 1.5 cups of sugar (which is enough for 2 layers) at once, so I do that first. Then, transfer the mixture to a big bowl and beat the remaining five egg whites and remaining sugar. Put both mixtures together. Then fold in the dry ingredients.
Line 3 pans (10″ round) lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Filling:
Mix the yolks and cornstarch with 1-1/2 cups milk. Put the remaining 2-1/2 cups milk in a pot, add orange zest and juice, sugar, vanilla and bring it to boil. Lower the heat, pour in the egg yolk mixture, and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until it is thick. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave to cool.
The butter needs to be softened and mixed in a separate bowl.
When the cooked filling is completely cooled, transfer to a mixer bowl, start beating until smooth; gradually add butter; mix until blended well.
Chill in the refrigerator until firm enough and easy to spread onto the cake layers. Reserve about 1.5 cups to put on top of the cake and on the sides and use the rest between the layers.
Decorate with whipping cream or icing of your choice.
