I decided to make this yesterday morning early - had it in the oven at 7.45am! I needed to make a cake for morning tea at playgroup this week and wanted to make something using some lemons....that was more 'adult' rather than the kids ransacking the mummy morning tea. I got the recipe from taste - it's called a Maori cake on there -but I found even when I used the non-fan forced setting on my oven - it was too hot and it cooked well on the top (i.e. almost burned!) before it was cooked in the middle. I took it out of the oven in time, cut off the top, returned it to the oven at 150degrees and cooked the rest. So - I have adjusted the original temperature setting that was on the recipe I had (180 deg) to 150..
It is a warm and rich and surprisingly not too heavy (hey I tasted the top!) I made a eggwhite and lemon zest icing (1 egg white beaten 'til stiff peaks, mixed with 2/3 cup sifted icing sugar and zest of one lemon).
I'll definitely be making it again!
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup water
2 tb bicarb soda
120g butter
1 cup caster sugar
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Method:
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Put dates and water in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to the boil over high heat. Boil, partially covered, for 3 minutes or until dates are soft.
Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine - it will froth up a little - set aside.Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a food processor
Add lemon rind, lemon juice and eggs, and process to combine. Add date mixture, plain flour, self-raising flour, coconut, milk and vanilla essence. Process until well combined.
Spoon into greased and papered pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth surface.
Bake in oven for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.
Set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature or with my icing!
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7 lovely comments:
lordy girl, that sounds unreal! def. doing this one. re icing: stiff peaks then do you mix icing sugar with beaters or spoon? does cake work as cupcakes? cheers!
That looks so good - I mean, really really good.
I love lemons too and wouldn't have thought of combining them with dates.
Thanks Liss, I'll have to make this one, the kids LOVE dates.
Yum, that looks like a good way of using up some of my lemons. Maybe since it is a Maori cake it should have been cooked in a hangi (underground with hot stones)LOL
Lemon is my totally couldn't live without it ingredient - sweet or savoury - and oh my, you've tickled my sweet tastebuds with this... Mmmmmm.
I was going to make this today as well!
Have no time left though, so tomorrow I shall... and I'll reduce cooking temperature... thanks for the heads up!
Amanda - I couldn't see why you couldn't make them into cupcakes? The only thing is that they might be less moist?
With the icing I use the electric beater and then sift in the icing sugar and stir as I go with a spatula. :)
I got many compliments on the cake today - there were many who had more than one piece and there was only 2 pieces left! It would be nice on it's own but I'm glad I did the icing - it adds just that little more zesty-ness. Yummy.
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