Eggless Date Walnut Cake

Dates and walnuts! When these two ingredients come together in a dessert, they don’t leave much for you to do. They blend so beautifully together that the magic is guaranteed! The job of baking a delicious cake gets effortless with them (provided they are used generously, with abandon). This eggless date walnut cake doesn’t have butter in it and uses jaggery powder instead of sugar. So I think it qualifies as a ‘healthy cake’. Does it sound like an oxymoron? Yes? Try this cake you will change your opinion. So here is recipe of a super easy cake that anybody (I mean anybody) can bake it to perfection!

Recipe of Eggless Date and Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

• 11/4 cup maida (all purpose flour)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 3/4 cup whey (water left after making paneer/cheese)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)
• 2 tablespoons thick curd
• 1 cup jaggery powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees celsius with both elements on.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add chopped walnuts and dates to it. Mix the ingredients well so the nuts and fruits are well-coated with the dry mix.
3. In another bowl, whisk whey, jaggery, oil and curd together.
4. Add the wet mix into the dry mix ad mix well so that there are no dry lumps in the mix.
5. Pour the cake mix in a tin. The tin should be greased with oil and dusted with flour.
6. Place the tin on the middle rack and bake it for 30-35 minutes or till a knife comes out clean when passed through the cake. Here is a closeup of the cake.

Tip: If you forgot to make Christmas cake in advance and don’t have hours to bake it, this quick cake could be a good alternative. It tastes really wintery. To make it truly christmasy, add 1/2 teaspoon of all spice powder or a mix of ginger powder, cinnamon and nutmeg powder to it. Voila! Your Christmas cake substitute is ready. (Purist cooks, please pardon me giving this tip. I am all for a Christmas cake made with labour, patience and love. This is only a last-minute fix)