Taking a break from Brexit except it’s never a break because today we heard all about Amber Rudd and her reason for quitting from the government and conservative party. All very admirable, I’m sure. Anyhow, today I was meant to make a start on my appraisal documentation but I could not access the relevant drives on my work laptop so that was scuppered. I did however manage to prepare for Monday clinic so at least I know who is booked and have a vague idea of what I might need to do. It left me with some unexpected time on my hands. I decided that I would like to bake another cake and use my newly acquired stand mixer.

There were some dates in the fridge that I wanted to use up. I found a recipe on the internet and adapted according to what I could find in my kitchen cupboard (i.e. I did not have vegan butter , I used self-raising flour, caster sugar and almond milk).

Ingredients:

• 225g of pitted soft dates
• 190g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50g of cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100g of vegan butter
• 140g of brown sugar
• 100ml soy milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Cut the dates into little cubes and place into a bowl. Cover with 175ml boiling water and set aside to soak. 
3. In a large bowl mix the cake flour with baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. 
4. In a separate bowl add the butter and the sugar, using a hand mixer, whisk until soft and creamy. 
5. Then add the soy milk, honey and apple cider vinegar and mix until well incorporated.  
6. Now start slowly adding the flour mix, while whisking continuously. 
7. By now the dates will have almost dissolved in the hot water. You can now gently fold them into the cake batter.
8. Grease a small cake tin, about 20cm diameter, and add the cake batter. 
9. Place in the oven and bake for about 35mins. 
10. Then take it out of the oven and let it cool down for about 20 minutes before removing it from the cake tin.   

It is a very fudgy cake…

Fudgy Date and Chocolate Cakes