Sugar free date walnut cake

Hi, I'm back after a hiatus. I took quite a long break from blogging and social media. During this time I have cooked a lot new dishes, dug deep into bread making and even managed to raise my first batch of sourdough starter, yet somehow I lacked the energy and enthusiasm to share it on social media. But during this worldwide Covid-scare and lockdown restrictions I felt an urge to connect with others and share my thoughts.

It's really difficult to cope during this wearisome time. It feels like there's no escape, but sharing your thoughts in social media works like therapy. You'll always find people who resonate your thought and the feeling, that you are not alone, is reassuring. To keep away from unnecessary anxiety, I decided to stop reading the newspaper and stop watching news channels. Those depressing broadcasts had a negative effect on me. I made up my mind to engage myself in things I love to do. For instance, I have started painting. Though I have no formal training in painting or drawing, I simply love Indian folk arts and I have been trying my hand at Madhubani and Gond paintings. And of course there is my true love of cooking and food photography. If you are feeling helpless and can't see an end to this pandemic, please do what you are passionate about, enjoy every single moment and stay positive. It's a difficult time but we'll definitely come out of it as winners. 

You can check my updates on recipes and food photography on Facebook and Instagram. If your following me on either of these platform you've seen the beautiful ingredients I shot a few days back. As you know I love to photograph the textures and colors of raw ingredients before preparing the dish. So while baking this cake  I couldn't resist but take a few shots of these gorgeous dates and walnuts. I'm sharing behind the scenes and phone photography tips on Instagram. If you have any queries related to food photography drop a message on Facebook or Instagram. 

 

Ok, enough of these walnut and date photo shoots, let's come back to the details about the cake. As mentioned above this is a sugar free cake. I'm trying my best to cut off proceeded sugar in my food. I have used honey in this and I must say I will not use sugar from now on to bake my cakes. The cake tasted so much better with honey, also the color came out an attractive brown.

Things needed to make Sugar free Date Walnut Cake:

• Honey: 3/4 cup
• Butter: 1/2 cup
• Eggs: 3
• Flour: 1.5 cup
• Baking powder: 1 tsp
• Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
• Vanilla essence: 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp
• Ginger (grated): 1 tbsp
• Dates (pitted and chopped): 1 tsp
• Walnut: 1/2 cup + extra to sprinkle

Steps of making Sugar free Date Walnut Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C. Line a 9/5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. If you do not have Parchment paper then grease the pan with butter or oil and dust it with flour. Keep the pan aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl (or you can use a stand mixer) cream the butter and honey, scrape the sides and mix them well. Add one egg at time and keep mixing with the hand blender or stand mixer whichever you are using. In between scrape the sides of the bowl. 

2. Add Vanilla essence, cinnamon, grated ginger and mix well. 

3. Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda 1/3 cup at a time and fold it into the liquid part.

4. Take the pitted and chopped dates and walnut and generously dust with flour. If you add the dry fruits directly to the cake batter it will sink to the bottom of the cake.

5. Add the dry fruits. Fold them into the cake batter with a spatula.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle some extra walnut on top. Bake on the middle rack of your pre-heated oven for 50-60 mins or till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Let the cake cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve.

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