This recipe is my mum’s and is very dear to me because it reminds me of my childhood and how she always had something prepared and ready for our hunger pangs. Good thing about it is that, it’s very quick to make and an excellent hostess gift.
Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Give food to the hungry, pay a visit to the sick and release (set free) the one in captivity (by paying his ransom).
Ingredients
200 grams dates, pitted and chopped
100 grams sugar
250 grams All purpose flour*
200 grams any chopped nuts ( I love walnuts)
2 teaspoons baking soda
200 grams butter or margarine
1/2 cup warm milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or extract
Preheat the oven at 350 F, grease an 8′ pan or a Bundt cake mold with butter or oil.
In a bowl mix the chopped nuts, dates and 1 tablespoon flour ( the flour prevents the nuts from sinking at the bottom of the batter).
In a separate bowl sift the flour and baking soda.
In another bowl beat butter and sugar till creamy,add eggs one at a time and add the vanilla, mix well. Add the flour-baking soda to it and fold it with a spatula,add the milk and continue mixing. Put in the date-walnuts and fold it well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or till firm when you pat it slightly. I like to keep the cake in the pan for at least 5 minutes for the cake to cool a little bit and prevent it from crumbling while removing it from the pan. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut in slices and serve.
*The reason why I’ve used all purpose flour and not cake flour is because the cake flour will make the cake softer and crumble , as for the all purpose flour it will be able to hold the weight of the dates and nuts.
