HONEY CAKE WITH DATES AND APPLES (Nigella)
A cake of seductive squidginess! Yields: 12 slender or 8 chunky slices
INGREDIENTS
75 gr finely chopped dates
325 – 350 gr Braeburn apples (chopped into small – about 1 cm / ½ inch – pieces) – or pink ladies?
1 large orange
125 ml regular olive oil plus 1 Tab more, plus extra for greasing
150 gr honey plus 50g/ 3 Tab more for glaze
100 gr dark muscovado sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp orange blossom water (or more orange juice)
200 gr plain flour
50 gr ground almonds
1 tsp cocoa
¼ tsp salt
100 gr walnut halves – can be pre-toasted
1½ tsp bicarb
1½ tsp hot water
- Line base of a 20cm/ 8 inch Springform tin with parchment and lightly oil the sides. Get out a medium-small heavy based saucepan that comes with a tightly fitting lid. I use one 18cm in diameter, and I wouldn’t advise going much wider.2. Finely chop the dates; set aside for now. Peel, quarter & core the apples, then cut them into small pieces, about 1cm/ ½ inch, and drop them into your saucepan.
Finely grate the zest of the orange into the pan, add 3 Tabs juice, followed by the 1 Tab olive oil. Cover pan & cook over med-low heat (stir occasionally) for 7 mins, by which time the apples should be almost cooked through. Add the chopped dates and a further Tab of orange juice. Give a good stir, then cook without the lid, stirring & pressing down on the apples – for 3 minutes or until you can mash the apples & dates to a rough puree with a fork.
Take the pan off the heat and leave for 10 mins. Preheat oven to 160ºC FF.3. Pour oil into a wide-necked measuring jug, followed by the honey, dark muscovado sugar, eggs & orange blossom water. Whisk with a fork; you don’t want to make this very aerated.4. Measure flour in a bowl & stir in the ground almonds, cocoa & salt. With the walnuts in another bowl, use your fingers to break them up well. I find this better than chopping them as it’s easier to end up with nubbly pieces rather than a lot of splinters and dust, too.
5. Pour the jug of liquids into the pan, mix to combine with the fruit. Now add the drys & just stir until you see no trace of flour — followed by the crumbled walnuts. Finally, spoon 1½ tsp bicarb into a little cup, fill another little cup with hot water, then add 1½ teaspoons hot water to the bicarb — it will fizz up gently — then promptly tip & scrape bicarb paste into the batter in the pan; stir well to incorporate.
6. Scrape batter into your prepared tin. Bake 45-50 mins or until cake is risen and a deep dark brown on top, and a cake tester will come out clean apart from a few damp crumbs. While the cake is still very good to eat (I actually prefer it) when the top is still slightly soft, it will sink a little on cooling, so make sure the top feels firm on the surface if you want to avoid this. But don’t worry about any cracks, please!
7. Put the cake in its tin on a wire rack. Stir the 50g/ 3 Tab honey with 1 tsp orange juice just so it is a little more fluid, and brush about a half of it over the hot cake. Leave for 10 minutes and then brush on the rest, then leave the burnished cake there to cool in the tin.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Storage: in an airtight container, or tightly wrapped in food wrap, in a cool place for up to 1 week. Can be frozen. ** Freeze in a double layer of food wrap and a layer of foil for up to 3 months. To thaw, unwrap and put on a wire rack at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Individual slices can be frozen wrapped in food wrap and put in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
