Where there is a celebration, there is a cake !!

What better reason to celebrate than embracing the lovely fall season and welcoming the snowy winters ? This recipe is an indulgent dessert made with healthy somethings 🙂

As a foodie couple, we are constantly on a lookout for an excuse to celebrate. Ever since i started this blog, i have to admit that i am constantly motivated to try out new foods and create gastronomical experiences in my kitchen lab. It is real fun to experiment with new ingredients but what usually hits my creative radar is coming up with interesting experiences from typical ingredients.

Sticky date coconut Cake is not only rich in texture & taste, it oozes sophistication in every slice. For me, this cake is like the lovely fall on my plate. The rich browns tending towards light caramel colour makes it look irresistible. The cake has the goodness of the dates & the coconut, making it a great dessert choice for the upcoming winters.

Sticky date coconut cake Recipe Preparation time : 20 minutes Baking time : 40 minutes Makes : One cake (9″ dia x 2″) For the Date Cake 2 cups All purpose flour

1 cup milk (can use full cream milk for a softer texture)

1 cup dates – pitted and roughly chopped

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda-bi-carbonate

100 gm butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar ( In case you want to use less dates, you can increase the sugar content to balance out the sweetness in the cake)

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup almond powder – Take about 20-25 almonds and grind to form a powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder Topping 1/2 cup fresh coconut – grated

2/3 cup brown sugar

20 gms butter

2 tsp milk Method Set your oven at 375 degrees F and preheat. Take the spring form cake tin and line with butter paper/ wax paper to avoid the cake sticking to the tin while baking. If you don’t have butter paper, you can straight away grease the tin and sprinkle some flour on it to create an even flour surface on the tin. In a bowl, sieve through all your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda-bi-carb and cinnamon powder) and mix well. Add in the almond powder and mix. In a separate bowl, take the butter and melt on low heat. Add in milk, chopped dates, raisins, sugar and vanilla essence. Heat on medium heat till the sugar melts. Remove from flame and keep aside for 15 minutes. Add spoonful of dry mixture to the wet mixture and fold in gently in one direction. Do so with the complete dry mixture. Create a homogenous batter mixture. Note : Do not whisk the mixture or else the cake will not come out fluffy post baking. Check for the consistency of the Cake batter. It should be of “Dropping consistency”. You may add a little more milk if required. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for about 30 minutes. While the cake bakes, prepare the coconut topping*. Refer below for the method for preparing the coconut topping. Generously pour the coconut topping over the cake and bake for about 15 minutes. Check if the cake is done by inserting a knife/ wooden pin. The pin should come out clean (the topping will be soft and may stick to the pin, so use your judgement here. Usually the texture for the date cake and this topping is very different so it would be easy to judge) Once the cake is baked, remove from oven and cool on the cooling rack. *For Coconut Topping : In a saucepan, take all the ingredients of the toppings and heat on medium flame till the sugar melts and the mixture is homogenous. Bring to boil and keep stirring to avoid the coconut sticking to the bottom of the pan. Depending on your preference, you may like to keep the coconut mixture on low flame till the sugar in the mixture turns a little caramel like for a divine and richer taste.

Just look at the result !! Isn’t this simply pretty ??

My kitchen lab was filled with amazing aromas originating from my oven just mid way of the cake baking and got me really excited as i anxiously waited for the baking to get over.

This cake turned out to be just as i had visualized while i mixed the magic potions (a.k.a the awesome ingredients) together like a mad scientist hoping to break into something totally cool.

This cake is a promising, sure shot party dessert. Serve it in slices or make them as individual brownies and let your guests be pampered this fall !

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