Serves 9
Spiced Date Cake
- 2cups red wine, a fruity, medium body wine works well
- 22″ cinnamon sticks
- 1tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1teaspoon allspice berries
- 1/2teaspoon cloves
- 2cup dates
- 2cup pecans
- 4eggs
- 6tablespoons muscovado sugar
- 1/4cup tablespoons rice flour
- 2teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2teaspoons orange zest
- Pinch salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and sugar an 8×8 loaf pan or an 8” round.
Combine the first six ingredients in a small pot. The dates should be covered by the wine. Bring to a simmer and gently poach the dates for about five minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the dates in the poaching liquid for 20 minutes.
Toast the pecans in the oven, 6- 9 minutes. After they have cooled, put them in a food processor and chop them until they are like sand, some larger pieces are fine, no need to pulverize them.
Remove the dates from the poaching liquid, taking care to leave all of the spices in the pot. Reserve the liquid for the mascarpone. Chop the dates very small.
Crack the eggs in to a bowl and beat them. Add dates, pecans, sugar, rice flour, baking soda, orange zest and pinch of salt and mix everything together.
Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. It will feel soft to the touch in the centre, when it cools it will firm up.
Remove cake from the oven and let it cool before serving. Wrapped tightly in saran wrap and left on the counter, the cake will stay moist for 3 days.
Mulled Wine Mascarpone Cream
Poaching liquid from Spiced Date Cake Recipe
- 2tablespoons honey
- 1cup whipping cream
- 6tablespoons mascarpone cheese
- 2teaspoon powdered sugar
- Pinch salt
Add honey to the poaching liquid, bring to a boil and reduce by half. Strain and allow to cool. Discard the spices.
Whip the cream until it has medium stiffness. Add mascarpone, 3 tablespoons poaching liquid, powdered sugar and salt. Whip for about 30 seconds- just long enough to incorporate all of the ingredients. Depending on the wine you used, you may want to adjust the sugar and poaching liquid. However, do not make it sweet.
Serve dolloped on top of Spiced Date Cake!
Author Notes: A friend served a walnut date cake (Simple Southwest Cooking by Judy Walker) with tea one afternoon. The cake was perfectly simple the way it was, but (…more)—wanderash
***Grabbed from: http://food52.com/recipes/7709-spiced-date-cake-with-mulled-wine-mascarpone-cream