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 a few ingredients. Also, you can easily customize the cake by adding your favorite add-ins and enjoy it as a tea-time snack or after-meal dessert.
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About Date and Walnut Cake
This eggless date cake is absolute bliss. It fills the kitchen with a beautiful aroma of butter, dates, and nutmeg and brings warmth and comfort to the kitchen.
If you like eating dates, you should try this cake. It is sweetened mainly with dates and then added a small quantity of sugar. It makes a holiday cake and can also be enjoyed with tea or coffee throughout the year.
Texture: Date and Walnut Cake is tender, soft, moist, and fluffy. It is full of dates and walnuts in each bite.
Flavor: The cake is buttery with warm flavors of vanilla and nutmeg. But the star ingredient is a date, and each bite is full of tender and juicy flavors of dates.
Ease of Making: I have used melted butter in the recipe, and hence there is no creaming method involved in the process. So all we need is mixing bowls, whisk, and spatula; there is no need for an electric mixer.
Why You Will Bake This Cake
- Easy Recipe with a Few Ingredients
- Soft, Tender, Moist, and Fluffy
- Delicious without Frosting
- Largely Sweetened with Dates
- Perfect to have with Tea or Coffee
- Serve as a Dessert with a Scoop of Ice Cream
Ingredients
- Dates: Use soft, sweet, and juicy dates to make this cake. 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 make them soft and infuse their flavor in the milk.
- Milk: Use either 2% fat or full-fat milk, but do not use low-fat milk for this recipe. Also, the milk should be boiling hot to soak the dates.
- Flour: I have used unbleached all-purpose flour for this date and walnut cake, and I will recommend the same. Ensure to measure the flour correctly; if you have a kitchen scale, use it to weigh the flour. But if you like, you can also swap half of the flour with whole wheat flour.
- 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. It is optional to add nutmeg; however, I highly recommend it.
- Sugar: I have used brown sugar because it makes the cake moist and also provides a dark color. But you can use cane sugar, light brown sugar, 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. Instead of sour cream, you can also use plain Homemade Yogurt. Make sure to bring sour cream or yogurt to room temperature before using it in the recipe.
- Vanilla: Use only pure vanilla extract if possible. 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.
Step by Step Directions
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.
Helpful Tips
- Dates: Use soft, juice, and sweet dates to make this cake. Also, chop them into small pieces for even distribution in the cake.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: I would recommend using full-fat sour cream or yogurt, which should be at room temperature.
- Measurement: For the best results, use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.
- Batter: Do not overmix the batter to get the soft and tender cake.
- Make it Vegan: For a vegan cake, use any neutral flavor oil instead of butter. Soak the dates in almond or cashew milk. And use dairy-free yogurt instead of sour cream.
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
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Recipe Card
Date and Walnut Cake / Eggless Date Cake
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Mixing Bowls
- 6×3 inch Cake Pan
Ingredients
- 100 g dates (seedless and chopped)
- ½ cup (120ml) hot milk
- 1¼ cup (150g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- A pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
- ⅓ cup (76g) melted unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (76g) brown sugar (or white sugar)
- ¼ cup (60g) sour cream or yogurt
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla
- ⅓ cup (40g) walnuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
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 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 and soaked dates along with milk into the wet mixture. Mix everything until well combined. But 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 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 Suggestions
- Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Refrigerate the leftover cake in an airtight container for 7-8 days.
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.
Notes
- Dates: Use soft, juice, and sweet dates to make this cake. Also, chop them into small pieces for even distribution in the cake.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: I would recommend using full-fat sour cream or yogurt, which should be at room temperature.
- Measurement: For the best results, use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.
Batter: Do not overmix the batter to get the soft and tender cake. - Make it Vegan: For a vegan cake, use any neutral flavor oil instead of butter. Soak the dates in almond or cashew milk. And use dairy-free yogurt instead of sour cream.
Thanks for coming! Let me know what you think.