This Date Cake is a moist, soft, delightful cake featuring sweet dates, crunchy walnuts, fragrant coffee, healthy almond milk and raw sugar. It also has whole wheat flour that makes it wholesome and a bit healthier. Even a beginner in baking can make this eggless, vegan Date and Walnut Cake easily.
Table of Contents
About Date Cake
Date cake is a favorite with us. No wonder, I make this on days when we crave for sweets or desserts that are healthy.
This Date and Walnut Cake recipe is almost a decade old that I had posted many years back. I have been making this Date Cake for many years now.
It simply never fails and you get the perfect date loaf every time. My recipe always impresses my family and friends. When I serve this delish cake to them, they keep on asking for more.
The earlier recipe was made with a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. Later I switched to making the cake entirely with whole wheat flour changing some of the other ingredients proportions.
And oh boy! I was so surprised to see the cake having a soft and moist crumb in spite of the whole wheat flour. So I have updated the recipe post to the date cake made entirely with whole wheat flour.
This date and walnut cake is healthy as together with dates and walnuts it is made with whole wheat flour and almond milk.
The cake recipe is apt to make for special days or festivals like Christmas or Easter, especially when you want to enjoy eating desserts that are not heavy on butter or cream frostings, refined flour and too much of fats like butter or oil.
Even a novice in baking can make this cake and get full marks. Try this cake and you will be simply bowled over by its texture, flavor and taste.
Ingredients You Need
- Flour: The entire recipe is made with whole wheat flour and works well with both the Indian wheat flour (atta) used for making roti and the milled whole wheat flour available outside India. You could easily swap the whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour, pastry flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
- Dates: Well of course since the cake has dates in it, it is loaded with the flavor and aroma of dates. Dates also makes the cake soft.
- Coffee: I also add instant coffee that pairs beautifully with the dates and add its own charm and flavor to the cake. Though you can chose to opt out of coffee.
- Walnuts: I love to add some walnuts in this recipe. But if you are out of walnuts, skip them. But they do add a lovely crunch to the soft cake.
- Chocolate Chips: You could also choose to add some chocolate chips or cacao nibs. Sometimes I do add these and I have mentioned the proportions in the recipe card below.
- Leavening Ingredients: Both baking powder and baking soda are required and cannot be substituted for each other. Since this is an eggless cake, I would suggest that you use both baking powder and baking soda that are fresh and in their shelf-life.
- Liquids: I make this cake with almond milk, but feel free to use your preferred milk to make the recipe. Earlier I have also made this recipe with homemade soy milk.
If you love baking with nuts and dry fruits, do check my Fruit Cake Recipe and Wine Cake.
How to make Date Cake
Prep and Make Date Walnut Mixture
1. Rinse and finely chop 100 grams or about 5 large or 8 to 9 medium-sized or 12 small dates and 4 to 5 walnuts (25 grams).
Measure and you will need ½ cup finely chopped dates (tightly packed) and ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts.
Grease a 7.5 to 8 inches round pan with oil (neutral flavored) or line it with a parchment paper. You can also use a loaf pan to make date loaf.
2. Heat 1 cup almond milk (or choice of milk) in a pan or steel bowl. Do not boil. The milk should only be hot.
3. Switch off heat and place the pan or bowl on the kitchen countertop. Add instant coffee.
4. Add the finely chopped dates and walnuts.
5. Mix very well to make an even mixture.
6. Add ½ cup raw sugar. You can also add ½ cup white sugar or add it according to the sweetness you prefer in the cake.
7. Mix thoroughly until the sugar granules dissolves. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.
Make Cake Batter
8. Place a wired mesh sieve over the bowl and ddd the following dry ingredients to it.
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour – 180 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
Sift the dry ingredients directly over the bowl ensuring the sifted ingredients fall into the bowl.
9. Pour all of the the cooled dates and milk mixture to the sifted dry ingredients in the bowl.
10. Add ¼ cup of sunflower oil (or any neutral tasting oil), ¼ cup water and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence.
11. Mix with a wired whisk or you can also choose to fold the batter.
Mix to an even batter but take care not to overdo the mixing or folding. Over-mixing can cause gluten strands to develop in the batter and will result in a doughy dense texture.
12. Pour in the greased or parchment lined pan. Tap the pan with the batter in it on the countertop a few times so that the batter spreads on its own.
Bake Date Cake
13. Bake at 190 degrees C/392 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Preheat oven at 190 degrees C/392 degrees F for 15 minutes. It took me 40 minutes to bake in my oven.
Note that temperatures vary from oven to oven. It can take less or more time for the cake to bake in your oven.
14. Check the baked date cake with bamboo skewer. The skewer should come out clean with no sticky batter on it.
15. Cool cake pan on wired rack.
16. Slice and serve when cooled. You can also refrigerate the date cake for about a week. Store the cake in an air-tight container in the fridge.
More Egg-free Cakes To Try!
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.
Date Cake | Date and Walnut Cake
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup finely chopped dates (tightly-packed) – 100 grams or 5 arwa dates (or 5 large dates) or 12 small or 8 to 9 medium-sized dates.
- ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts – 25 grams
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee
- 1 cup almond milk or choice of milk
- ½ cup raw sugar – 110 grams, can use ½ cup of regular sugar instead
- 1 tablespoon cacao nibs or small chocolate chips, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- ¼ cup water
Dry Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour – 180 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Making cake batter
- Finely chop the dates and walnuts and set aside. If you prefer, you can rinse dates, walnuts before chopping them.
- Line a 7.5 to 8 inches cake pan with parchment or grease it with a neutral flavored oil like sunflower oil.
- Take almond milk in a small pan and heat it gently on low. Do not boil the milk but only heat it.
- When the milk gets hot, place the pan on the kitchen countertop.
- Add the instant coffee, finely chopped dates and walnuts, sugar. Stir to get an even mixture and ensure that the coffee granules and sugar have mixed evenly.
- Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
- Now you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/392 F for 15 minutes.
- Sift whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Add dates and milk mixture to the sifted dry ingredients.
- If using cacao nibs or chocolate chips add them now.
- Next add sunflower oil, water and vanilla extract.
- Mix with a wired whisk or you can also choose to fold the batter. Mix or fold to an even batter. Remember not to overdo the mixing or folding.
- Pour batter in the greased or parchment lined cake pan.
- With the help of a rubber spatula remove the batter from the sides of the bowl and add it to the cake pan.
- Tap the pan on the countertop a few times so that the batter spreads on its own.
Baking date cake
- Place cake pan in the preheated oven and bake at 190 degrees C/392 F for 35 to 40 minutes.Keep in mind that each oven has a different baking temperature. So to bake the cake in your oven, it can take less or more time. It took me 40 minutes to bake this cake in my oven.
- Check cake with a bamboo skewer by inserting it in the center of the cake as well as around the edges. The bamboo skewer should come out clean.
- Place the cake pan on a wired rack or tray to cool.
- When cooled, slice and the Date and Walnut cake. Serve as a evening snack or as a dessert.
- The remaining cake can be kept in an air-tight box and refrigerated. Keeps well for about a week.
Notes
- You can make this date cake easily with all-purpose flour, pastry flour or whole wheat pastry flour. You can also use an equal mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.
- Addition of coffee and cacao nibs are optional.
- For a more earthy flavor in the cake, choose to add coconut sugar, palm sugar or jaggery.
- Use neutral flavored oil – one that is odorless and flavorless. Please do not use any oil which has an aroma or a particular flavor.
- Instead of oil, you can use softened unsalted butter. If using salted butter omit adding salt.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for the entire cake made from this recipe.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Date Cake recipe post from the blog archives first published in March 2013 has been republished and updated on Jun 2022.
hey dear, i dont know how many times i spoiled the cake baking thing. but recently tried your this recipe and it turned out to be a perfect one .it was so so spongy and delicious and guess what i used multigrain atta for this……
thanx a tonn… U are a rockstar
Love you for this
Welcome Dr. Shubhra for this positive feedback. glad to know that the cake turned out good.
i tried the cake with jaggery but wasnt good. Then i tried with sugar and added a bit “rava”…was okay. I tried to use the same recipe for a carrot cake and then for a strawberry cake but it was so moist and not cake like at all.
Can you please recommend a recipe for using fruits which are in season?
hi neha, the recipe does need to change if other ingredients are used like fruits. generally fruits which yield a pulpy purees like apple, banana and mango make for a good eggless substitute. apple puree works very well as an egg substitute. i will be adding a mango cake soon. also plan to add a no bake mango cheesecake. i will consider your request and see if i can bake cakes with seasonal fruits. there is an eggless orange cake and a banana bread already posted on the blog.
I tried this cake but the texture was just not right…. was it the atta?
can you describe in detail what happened.
I tried the cake and it came out really good.Thanks again.
welcome merin
Hi Dassana,
just loved your recipe. Actually i m a beginner at baking. Just wanted to ask that could this cake be baked in a microwave? If yes, then at what mode, what time and what temperature?
looking forward for your reply
hi shubra, you cwill have to bake in the convection mode in the microwave. preheat the oven first at 180 degrees celsius for 10-15 mins. than in the convection mode, bake at the same temperature of 180 degrees C for 40 to 45 mins or more.
can we use jaggery here instead of sugar? as its more healthy.
And do you teach online as i m.not from pune.I luv eggless cakes.
neha, yes you can use jaggery. if you are using very sweet taste then reduce the amount of jaggery. i don’t teach online. but you can always ask queries.
Hi Dassana…i used jaggery instead of sugar and i added some ripe figs with dates…
And i baked it on the gas in a cooker. My oven sadly burns all cakes.
But the cake is looking dense and sunken and even after 1.5 hrs it was moist.
What went wrong? Pls guide.
I ve hardly been good with baking …but i keep trying since i luv it.
the cake is meant to be baked in the oven. i think the cooker was not able to bake it properly. do try baking cakes in the oven. i am not sure which oven you use. but with correct temperature setting, use of proper cake pans or tins, the cake should not get burned.
My cake took only 15 minutes baking time.i had added extra baking soda to make it less dense..but it was still dense..I used whole wheat bread flour so flour smell was a bit dominant..I should have used atta…less sweet cake
15 minutes is less time. if whole wheat flour is used completely than to reduce the denseness, either milk or water can be added in some amounts. even with atta the same things needs to be done. just to make the batter light, soft and moist. adding extra baking soda will change the flavor as well as the texture.
Hi Dassana,
Am a big fan of ur blog..:) ur recipes are easy to follow and amazing…luved and am planning to try a few of them..;)
Loved your cake recipe and also the mould…looking very cute can i knw whats the depth and size of the pan?? and where you got it from?? would surely love to have one in that size…
Kavi
Lo
thanks kavita. the pan is a 5.5 inch (diameter) and 2.75 inch deep pan. i got a set of two such pans from the market here in pune.
What size pan works best? Thank you
i used a deep pan with 4 inches diameter. even a 8×2 inches pan would work.
Hi Dassana. Thanks for posting this cake recipe. I have a query. In the 16th step when we bake the cake for 45 mins to one hour, what is the temperature that we need to set the baking for? I am a novice baker. Thank you.
hi supriya, the oven temperature is 200 degrees C/392 F.
Can i use normal sugar for this recipe?
rekha, you can use powdered sugar.
Hi Dassana,
1 cup measurement is equivalent to how much? An American cup usually is 240 ml and Indian is 200 ml.
mrunal, i use american cups. so one cup = 240 ml.
the cake was indeed yum 🙂 ………..very tasty…*drool* 🙂 🙂 simply the best one (Y)
thanks anagha
Hey Dassana,
PERFECT! PERFECT! PERFECT! well thats just what I can say about how the cake turned out. It was a tiny variation, I used the multi grain wheat flour and I replaced Walnuts with Hazelnuts. My husband who strongly believes in “a cake without egg is no cake at all… ” absolutely enjoyed the cake. Thank you. Appreciate your effort.
thanks
I made it, it was perfect, give it to someone who cannot use eggs, was loved by others also, will help me with my plates for vegetation,thank you
welcome maria.