Caramel Date Cake

The ancient Incas called quinoa ‘the mother grain’ and it is now known as a ‘super food’ for a reason: super nutritious, is high in vitamins and minerals, offers an easily digestible protein, it is almost always organic and full of fiber, iron and calcium.

This cake uses quinoa flour and you can taste the nutty flavour on it. For this recipe, I changed the sugar to natural sugars like maple syrup and agave nectar. Dates are super sweet so, if you have a sweet tooth, this cake will definitely be a favorite!

This recipe is from the book Quinoa 365.

Cake

Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C. Grease a 23 cm square baking pan.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup chopped pitted dates

1 cup boiling water

Combine both and set aside so the dates absorb the water. I didn’t use all the water later, but I did blend them together, to form a paste.

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup quinoa flour

2 tsp baking powder (I use one without aluminum)

1 tsp baking soda (same here)

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup packed brown sugar (I used maple syrup. TIP: you can substitute sugar to maple syrup without changing the quantity!)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Beat them well. Add the flour mixture and continue to mix until well blended. Fold in the dates and put it in the pan.

Bake for 35 min.

Topping

3/4 cup cream 18%

1 cup packed brown sugar (I used agave nectar. Next time I will try the maple as well)

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans (I didn’t use it)

Combine the cream, sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir constantly until you have a thick caramel sauce, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour 3/4 of the caramel sauce on top. Return the cake to the oven for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle with the pecans. Serve warm and drizzled with the remaining caramel sauce.