Dates and Raisins Cake (Eggless)

Few weeks ago my neighbor baked this kind of cake and brought some for my family. I absolutely loved its rich velvety texture and natural sweetness. Moreover, it had a refreshingly different flavor from the regular chocolate or vanilla cakes. I asked for the recipe and decided to give it a try. The only thing I changed in the recipe was to add some raisins, Craisins and Vanilla extract.

You need:

1/2 lb chopped dates (Khajoor)
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oil, I used Canola
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

1.Sift flour and baking soda. Preheat the oven at 350F.

2. Microwave dates and milk for couple of minutes and let it soak for half about 10 minutes. Add sugar to the dates and milk mixture and blend them using a blender (I used my Magic Bullet). Add oil to the mixture and continue blending for few seconds.

3. Slowly add the flour to the dates mixture and mix with a wire whisk. Fold in the raisins and Craisins.

4. The recipe is perfect for a small 8 inch cake pan. Add the cake mixture to the prepared pan (greased and dusted) and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.

I used an egg shaped cookie cutter to cut out egg shaped cake pieces (since Easter is in less than couple of weeks). The cake is great without any icing but I decorated a few pieces to get my son’s attention. I used a fluffy whipped cream icing and sprinkled some colored sugar crystals. As my son enjoyed it even without icing, I am happily tagging this recipe as ‘Toddler Friendly’!