Date cake (no egg, butter or milk)

Perfect cake for those who have allergies!
No eggs, butter or milk but still airy and moist. You could add other fruits and nuts for a bit of variation or simply have it plain and sweet.









Ingredients step one:
1 cup                   sugar

1/4 tsp                 salt

1 tsp                    cinnamon 

1 cup                   dates

2 cups                 water

1/2 cup               vegetable oil

1 tbsp                 honey (optional)

1/2 cup               pecans (optional)

Ingrdients step two:
2 cups                   all purpose flour

2 tsp                      baking soda

You will also need a 3-4 liter pot and a 20 cm baking pan.

Preparations:

This recipe needs to be prepared in two steps. If you have prepared step one previously and therefore already have a cooled date mixture, start by preheating the oven. Otherwise you can preheat the oven at 180C when beginning with step two.

Step one:

Combine sugar, salt and cinnamon in the pot and mix. Now add dates, oil and water and mix together.

Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 15-20 min. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pot.

Remove pot from stove and leave to cool. If you want to add honey, you do so after the mixture is completely cooled. It’s very important that you allow the mixture to cool completely!

Step two:
Prepare baking pan by gently covering with vegetable shortening and dusting with flour.

In a separate bowl add flour and baking soda. Sieve twice so no lumps remain.

Little by little add sifted flour to mixture. Mix by hand or mixer (low or medium speed) until there are no lumps.

If you wish to add pecans, dust half of pecans with flour and add to mixture. Transfer half of mixture to prepared baking pan.  Repeat with the rest of the pecans.Place baking pan in oven for 35-40 minutes or until inserted skewer comes out clean.

And voila your very own date and pecan cake!