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Hi, has anyone a tried & tested date cake recipe I can use as an alternative to a traditional rich fruit wedding cake?
Ideally I’d like to make a 6″, 8″ & 10″. Would I cover with marzipan or a walnut paste before fondant and can I make a month before?

If this works I’m being asked to make a gluten free version too!

Any advice gratefully received. Thanks

Hi Nellieham

There are lots of date cake recipes online. However, since you’d like it to have a decent shelf life, I would suggest choosing a recipe which contains more dates to flour ratio. It won’t be the same a traditional fruit cake. Traditonal fruit cakes have a greater ratio of fruit to flour and the concentrated sugars in the dry fruits help with it’s presevation qualitites. I’ve made the Mary Berry date cake, it’s good but there are better ones! It might be worth selecting two or three recipes, bake them up and see which you like best.
Make the cakes up a few days in advance as they become more moist with keeping. Wrap them up and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Taste after three days and check each day for flavour and texture. This will give you a good indication of developing taste and shelf life.

Most date cake recipes are written for loaf tins but they can be converted for other shaped pans. eg a 2lb loaf tin is approximately the same as a 7″ round or an 6″ square. If you wanted to experiment, work around those sizes to see how well the cake rises. You may need to adjust the recipe for better depth.

Personally I wouldn’t use walnut paste on it’s own as it can be too strong with a hint of bitter for some people. A one to one ratio with almond paste may work better. I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried it.

If you’re making a gluten free cake, please be aware of FSA guidelines about baking for dietry needs in a regular kitchen. Some people have a lower rate of tolerence to allergens and much greater care must be taken when preparing such foods. I know that you have previously asked about gluten free cakes and are aware of the discussions on the site around gluten free baking. In case you need to refresh, here is the link again:
http://www.cakeflix.com/questions?s=gluten+free

Hope some of this helps.
(Coincidentally, I’m baking a date cake with nuts this week for my hubby. It’s one of his favourite cakes which I ought to bake more often. I make holes in the cake with a skewer and spoon in a table spoon or two of spiced rum. The spirit helps keep the cake moist and adds a few extra days to the shelf life).

Madeitwithlove thank you so much for all the information, all very much appreciated. I accept it’s all about trial & effort to get the best and to that end my husband & I have been sampling the various plain then fruit cakes with ever increasing girths to match!

Now to the date cakes, I tried both a gf made-up date & walnut then the Mary Berry date recipe, well separated, at the weekend and both are certainly much more moist today, particularly my own high fruit own recipe. I will take your advice and try others for comparison – I’m bursting to know what your husband’s favourite date & nut cake is!!

The conversion of cake mixture for a 2lb loaf tin being roughly a 7″ round is most useful – would you estimate that giving around a 4″ depth?

Spiced rum to the ready . . . . . . . . . .

Hi Nellieham

The Mary Berry cake which I made didn’t really rise very high. I think it’s best to bake a recipe, perhaps even your own (which sounds absolutely gorgeous, mouth drooling!) and see what depth it comes out. The result would give a good indication how much to scale up by. I would have baked mine tonight but we forgot to get the dates!! I like my date cake packed with walnuts + the spicy rum. As an alternative I sometimes do cashews, pistashios and a very tiny amount of rose extract. You’ll have to freeze some of your cakes down after sampling. I’ve put on so much weight that I restrict how much I bake for us. We’re on the fresh fruit and veg wagon! 🙂