Date and Walnut Cake / Eggless Date Cake

Date and Walnut Cake is soft, tender, fluffy, moist, and buttery! This eggless date cake is scrumptious with the classic combination of dates and walnuts.

The recipe is straightforward and requires only a few ingredients. You can easily customize the cake by adding your favorite add-ins and enjoy it as a tea-time snack or after-meal dessert.

Jump to:

• About Date and Walnut Cake
• Why You Will Love This Cake
• Ingredients and Notes
• How To Make Date and Walnut Cake
• Serving Suggestions
• Storing and Freezing
• Substitutions
• Baking Tips
• More Eggless Cakes
• Recipe Card

About Date and Walnut Cake

This eggless date cake is absolute bliss. It fills the kitchen with the beautiful aroma of butter, dates, and nutmeg and brings warmth and comfort.

If you like eating dates, you should try this cake. It is sweetened mainly with dates and added a small quantity of sugar. It makes a holiday cake and can be enjoyed with tea or coffee throughout the year.

Texture: The Cake is tender, soft, moist, and fluffy. Each bite is full of dates and walnuts.

Flavor: This date and walnut cake is buttery, with warm vanilla and nutmeg flavors. But the star ingredient is a date, and each bite is full of tender and juicy dates.

Ease of Making: I have used melted butter in the recipe, so there is no creaming method involved. So all we need is mixing bowls, a whisk, and a spatula; there is no need for an electric mixer.

Ingredients and Notes

• Dates: This cake calls for soft, sweet, and juicy dates. I have used Medjool dates, but you can use your favorite variety. Chop the dates into small pieces for even distribution in the batter. Soaking dates in the milk is essential to making them soft and infusing their flavor in the milk.
• Milk: Use either 2% fat or full-fat dairy for this recipe, but do not use low-fat milk. The milk should also be boiling hot to soak the dates.
• Flour: I used unbleached all-purpose flour for this date and walnut cake and recommend it. Measure the flour correctly; if you have a kitchen scale, use it to weigh the flour. You can also swap half of the flour for whole wheat flour if you like.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Both work as leavening agents and are essential for this recipe.
• Salt: It gives a nice contrast to the sweetness of the cake.
• Ground Nutmeg: This spice adds a beautiful, warm flavor to this cake. Although adding nutmeg is optional, I highly recommend it.
• Sugar: I have used brown sugar because it moistens the cake and provides a dark color. But you can use the cane, light brown, or white sugar.
• Unsalted Butter: Butter adds its unique buttery flavor to this cake, and it tastes delicious with the dates.
• Sour Cream: Use full-fat sour cream for a rich and tender cake. You can also use plain Homemade Yogurt instead of sour cream. Ensure that the sour cream or yogurt is brought to room temperature before using it in the recipe.
• Vanilla: If possible, use only pure vanilla extract. It provides a sweet flavor to this eggless date cake.
• Walnuts: Walnuts provide pleasant crunch and delicious nutty flavor to this sweet cake. Instead of walnuts, you can also use pecans or almonds.

How To Make Date and Walnut Cake

Preparations

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Grease a 6×3 inch round baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Slightly grease the parchment paper as well.

• Take chopped dates into a bowl.
• Pour ½ cup of boiling hot milk into the bowl, and stir well.
• Allow the dates to be soaked in the milk for 10-15 minutes.
• Let the mixture cool completely.

Making a Date and Walnut Cake

• Sift all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl.
• Whisk well and set aside.

• Add melted butter, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk well until everything is well combined and the mixture is smooth.

• Add dry ingredients, soaked dates along with milk into the wet mixture, and mix until well combined.
• Do not overmix.

• Then gently fold the chopped walnuts into the batter. 

• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a back of a spoon or offset spatula.
• Then bake the cake in preheated oven for 32-38 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

• Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack.
• Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. 
• Then remove the cake from the baking pan, slice, and enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

• Serve the date and walnut cake with a cup of tea or coffee.
• Enjoy the cake slice with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
• You can also warm the cake slice in a microwave for a few seconds before serving if you like.
• Top the cake with some chocolate sauce or ganache before serving if you are a chocolate lover.

Storing and Freezing

• Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
• Refrigerate the cake for up to 8-10 days. If the cake is refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before serving.
• If you want to freeze it, let it cool completely. Wrap the cake tightly with freezer-safe plastic wrap or place it in the freezer bag. Freeze the cake for up to a month. Thaw the cake completely before serving.

Substitutions

• Flour: You can swap half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for a healthier option.
• Milk: Use 2% fat or full-fat milk, but do not use low-fat milk. Or use non-dairy milk such as almond or cashew milk.
• Butter: Instead of melted butter, you can use any neutral flavor oil for this recipe.
• Sour Cream: Use plain or Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
• Sugar: I have used dark brown sugar, but you can use light brown sugar, white sugar, or cane sugar to make this cake.
• Walnuts: You can skip the walnuts if you want. Or add chopped almonds or pecans instead of walnuts. If you like the combination of chocolate with date, add a half cup of chocolate chips in the batter.
• Spices: I like adding a pinch of ground nutmeg for some warm flavor to this cake. But instead of nutmeg, you can also add ground cinnamon or ground ginger. Otherwise, skip adding any spice.

More Eggless Cakes

You May Like More Desserts

• Banana Bars (Whole Wheat and Eggless)
• Homemade Vanilla Pudding Recipe (Eggless)
• Apple Muffins / Eggless Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Recipe Card