Kadhuru Cake

This one’s a moist & delicious date cake perfect for sharing with loved ones during tea time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dates (pitted and sliced)
• ½ cup boiling water
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla essence

Instructions:

1. Add the dates, boiling water and baking soda to a small bowl. Mix to combine and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Prepare a 7 inch circular cake tray. You can either grease it by rubbing oil on the bottom and sides and then dust the bottom and sides with flour, or cover the tray with baking paper.
3. Preheat the oven at 175 degrees Celsius. (You’ll have to preheat the oven at least 10 minutes before baking.)
4. Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl and set it aside.
5. Add the sugar, butter and egg to a large bowl and give it a good mix to get everything combined.
6. Then add the dates along with the liquid they were soaking in and mix again.
7. Add in the vanilla essence and get that combined too.
8. Now add the flour mixture and gently fold using a spoon or spatula until the flour is just incorporated. Be careful not to over mix. If you do that, your cake could end up too dense and even rubbery.
9. Pour the mixture into the cake tray you prepared earlier. Tap the cake tray on your counter a couple of times to get rid of any air bubbles.
10. Place the tray on the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Ours was done in an hour. However, oven temperatures differ, so keep an eye on yours.
11. When baked, remove from the oven and let the cake cool down in the tray for 10 minutes, then removed it from the tray and let it cool for another 10 minutes before slicing.