With love, From Scratch
Prep 20 min
Bake 1 hour
Decoration 15 min
Ingredients
For the cake
150g pitted dates, roughly chopped
75ml hot tea (such as Earl Grey)
4 eggs
200g caster sugar
150g extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla paste / or the seeds from 1 scraped vanilla pod
450g apples, cored and roughly chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
350g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
Honey frosting ingredients
200g butter
200g light brown sugar
220g cream cheese, room temperature
100g runny honey
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Soak the prepared dates in the hot tea and leave for five minutes to soften. Crack two eggs, plus two yolks (reserving the whites for later) into the mixing bowl, add the sugar, oil and vanilla and whisk (using an electric whisk) for around ten minutes until the mixture is at least tripled in volume.
- Weigh the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl and mix to combine. When the egg mixture is ready, add the soaked dates, chopped apples and lemon zest and mix to combine, followed by the dry ingredients, making sure not to over-mix. Next, whisk the two reserved egg whites until aerated and very frothy. Add the beaten egg whites to the cake mixture by folding gently until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the cake mix into the prepared cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven for roughly one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- While the cake is cooling, begin making the honey frosting. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and light brown sugar until lightened and soft. Add the cream cheese and continue to beat until the mixture looks glossy and is thoroughly incorporated. Finally, drizzle in the runny honey and lightly fold to combine.
- When the cake is cool, spoon or decoratively pipe the frosting on top of the cake.