Walnut, date & honey cake
Cuisine: Turkish
Walnut, date & honey cake is a sticky date walnut loaf with self-raising flour, cinnamon, butter, muscovado sugar, chopped dates, walnuts and a honey finish. Soak very dry dates briefly so they chop cleanly. Do not overmix once flour goes in, or the crumb turns tough.
At a glance
Time: about 1.5 hours · 8–10 slices · Difficulty: easy · ≈ 340 kcal per slice
Walnut, date & honey cake is a sticky date walnut loaf with self-raising flour, cinnamon, butter, muscovado sugar, chopped dates, walnuts and a honey finish. Soak very dry dates briefly so they chop cleanly. Do not overmix once flour goes in, or the crumb turns tough. A skewer should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
Tutorial
Ingredients
- 225g Self-raising Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 175g Butter
- 100g Muscovado Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Clear Honey
- 2 Beaten Egg
- 2 medium Banana
- 100g Stoned Dates
- 50g Walnuts
Steps
- step 1
- Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 3/fan oven 140C. Line the base and long sides of a 900g/2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper, buttering the tin and paper.
- step 2
- Tip the flour, cinnamon, butter, sugar, 2 tablespoons of the honey and the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Mash the bananas and chop the dates (kitchen scissors are easiest for this) and add to the bowl. Beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes, using a wooden spoon or hand-held mixer, until well blended.
- step 3
- Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top. Scatter the walnut pieces over. Bake for 1 hour, then lightly press the top – it will feel firm if cooked. If not, bake for a further 10 minutes.
- step 4
- Cool for 15 minutes, then lift out of the tin using the paper. When cold, drizzle the remaining honey over. Cut into thick slices.
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Time and temperature
Oven: 160–170 C · bake 45–60 min · cool in tin 10 min then rack
Nutrition
340 kcal · Protein 5 g · Fat 18 g · Carbs 42 g
1 slice of 10 (estimate)
Substitutes
- Muscovado → dark brown sugar
- Walnuts → pecans
- Honey glaze → maple syrup
- Self-raising flour → plain + baking powder
Storage
Airtight 3–4 days at room temp; longer if refrigerated. Freeze slices up to 1 month.
FAQ
- Dates sink to the bottom?
- Toss chopped dates in a spoon of flour before folding into sticky date walnut loaf batter.
- Cake too dry?
- Overbaked or low fat. Check Walnut, date & honey cake early and tent with foil if browning fast.
- Can I skip honey?
- Yes, but you lose the sticky top note. Extra brown sugar helps a little.
- Loaf or round tin?
- Loaf is classic; a round tin works—shorten bake time slightly.