date & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cakedate & walnut sticky toffee cake

SOOOOOO . . .  what do you do (in the winter) when you have loads of walnuts and dried dates and breadcrumbs & earl grey tea too ? The 2 kg of dates and 2 kg of walnuts and the earl grey tea we’re all given to me by my friends & neighbors and the breadcrumbs (also 2 kg at least) are the result of my own weekly bread I make and that hardens …

You make a big COMBINATION GREEK-BRITISH CAKE combining the principles of a KARIDOPITA or a Greek sugar syrup-drenched walnut and breadcrumb cake with a British STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING made with dates and coated with a dark caramel sauce.

Okay, it took me a whole day of mathematic and volumetric calculations before figuring out what could possibly work and how to balance out the flavors and I still have loads of dates & walnuts & breadcrumbs & earl grey tea left, so technically I could make 7 more but I’ll figure something out. I also think it’s actually the first time in my life that I ran out of cinnamon and vanilla and I only used half as much as needed (but it was Sunday and I adjusted the recipe quantities for you) !

It’s a big cake for 12 people (okay maybe even 24 people) but it’s also an extremely heavy and dense cake (over 2 kg in weight for an approximate diameter of 23 cm and height of 5 cm) with a variety of flavors derived from the dates boiled in strong earl grey tea (oh those wonderful bergamot citrus flavors), the walnuts, the breadcrumbs (very different from flour and quite toasty) the toffee caramel with whisky and I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.

As I mention in the instructions, prepare and measure the ingredients before you begin because despite all the ingredients used, it’s quite fast to prepare. I’ll be honest, I often like to do all of the ingredient measuring and prepping the night before so the next morning, I can get right to it.

You can serve it as is, no decorative garnish is necessary but at the same time it’s a visual introduction to what will be tasted (and who knows, maybe someone is allergic to walnuts ?) so it’s a good idea. I decorated it symmetrically and played with the colors since walnuts and dates and toffee are brown so a touch of orange (candied kumquats in this case) and green (candied angelica which smells like vanilla) were  nice.

As I said : serve as is, no ice cream nor whipped cream required !

Alright, I’m just saying, but I really believe that every household should have a weekly cake and I don’t mean the type of cake you prepare for a dinner with guests but something simpler prepared every weekend for the household and all your friends and/or loved ones that will drop by to say HEY (because our place is like a ‘windmill’ which is a French expression describing places that are often busy with people and visitors because anyone can just walk right in) !

& I LOVE WINDMILLS, xoxo . . .  :)

p.s.: I was just given another 1 kg of dried dates last night ! LOL

date & walnut sticky toffee cake

20.01.2017

12-24

ingredients

cake batter :

date purée :

  • 250 grams (2 cups) pitted dried dates
  • 300 ml very strong earl grey tea (use 360 ml - 1½ cups boiling water with 15 grams - 3 tbsp tea)
  • 5 grams (1 tsp) baking soda

dry ingredients :

  • 250 grams (almost 3 cups) walnuts (coarsely ground powder)
  • 250 grams (2 cups) bread crumbs
  • 7,5 grams (1½ tsp) cinnamon powder
  • 2,5 grams (½ tsp) nutmeg powder
  • 2,5 grams (½ tsp) clove powder
  • 2,5 grams (½ tsp) allspice powder
  • 20 grams (4 tsp) baking powder

wet ingredients :

  • 250 grams (4 large) eggs (separated into yolks & whites)
  • 250 grams (1 cup + 1 tbsp) melted and cooled butter
  • 250 grams (1¼ cup) golden cane sugar
  • 20 ml (4 tsp) vanilla extract (or 2 scraped vanilla beans)

toffee syrup :

  • 250 grams (1½ cups) brown muscovado sugar
  • 50 grams (3½ tbsp) salted butter (or sweet butter + ¼ tsp salt)
  • 125 ml (½ cup) light cream (18%)
  • 50 ml (2¼ tbsp) golden syrup (or corn syrup or liquid honey)
  • 25 - 50 ml (1¾ - 3½ tbsp) whisky (or cognac or dark rhum)

decorative garnish :

  • 60 grams (or 12) date halves
  • 30 grams (or 12) walnut halves
  • 45 grams (or 12) slices of candied fruit (I used orange kumquats & green angelica)

instructions

  • prepare and measure all ingredients before beginning (trust me !)
  • crack the walnuts and pit your dates (you’ll need approximately 25 whole dates and 40-50 whole walnuts) for the cake

note : if you have the time and to achieve a toastier roasted walnut flavor, roast the walnuts at 210°C for 5 minutes on a baking sheet, then let cool before grinding.

  • coarsely grind the walnuts, combine the walnuts with the bread crumbs, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and clove powders and the baking powder
  • boil the water, add the earl grey tea leaves and let steep until strong, then strain, reserve 300 ml or 1¼ cups, reheat the tea, add the halved (or quartered) and pitted dates, bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes, add the baking soda, keep stirring as the froth develops and the strong smell dissipates, then let cool slightly and purée until smooth
  • preheat oven to 180°C with the rack in the middle
  • beat the golden cane sugar with the sweet butter, when smooth and creamed, add the vanilla extract and one egg yolk at a time, then add the date purée and mix well
  • beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until forming stiff peaks
  • add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix well and finally fold in the egg whites until well incorporated
  • use a 22-24 cm spring form pan with baking paper on the bottom and brush melted butter on the inside and sprinkle with flour until well-coated, shake out the excess flour
  • pour in the thick cake batter (fill the cake pan up to ¾ full), smooth it out and bake for at least 55-60 minutes until the first cracks appear on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean (or the inner temperature of the cake reaches 85°C if you have an oven thermometer)
  • while the cake is baking, prepare the toffee syrup in a small casserole by heating up the butter, light cream, brown sugar, golden syrup and keep whisking until the sugar has dissolved, let the mixture reach a boil for 1 minute, then let simmer at very low heat for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and add the whisky and stir (I used more whisky, about 50 ml)
  • remove from the oven and let the cake cool for 5-7 minutes in the spring form pan, use a skewer to poke holes everywhere then pour ¾ of the warm toffee syrup on top and let it soak for several minutes, then un-mold and pour the remaining ¼ of the syrup along the edges to coat the sides and let cool slightly before adding the decorative garnish on top (I used walnut halves, date halves, quartered candied kumquats and thinly sliced candied angelica stalks)
  • serve cool or at room temperature … no ice-cream or whipping cream required !

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