Sticky Date Cake with Orange Toffee Sauce

After watching this recipe on Barefoot Contessa, I have been waiting to try this out. Finally I did that today & I must say that this is out of the world. Never thought a dates cake will taste this good. This is definitely one of my fav desserts now & will be made more often. Here is the recipe adopted from Ina Garten.

For the cake:

• 200 gms dates, pitted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 15o gms butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup Powdered Brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon  salt
• 1 tablespoons baking powder

For the sauce:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar or normal sugar
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1 Tspn Orange extract

 
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Butter and flour a 8 inch round cake pan.

 

Place the dates in a deep saucepan with 1¾ cups of water. Bring to boil, stirring a little to break up the dates & become mushy. Allow to simmer 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the baking soda (it will bubble up!). Set aside.

 

Meanwhile,  cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla, scraping down the mixing bowl. (It may look curdled.) Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and add it to the batter.  Now add the hot date mixture in two batches to the batter, scraping down the bowl. Mix this well &  pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

Meanwhile, combine the butter, brown sugar, heavy cream and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Add in vanilla, orange extract and pour into a 2-cup heat-proof glass measuring cup. Set aside.

 

As soon as the cake is done, poke holes all over it with a toothpick. Pour three-quarters of the sauce evenly over the cake while still warm and allow it to soak in for 30 minutes. Turn the cake out bottom side up onto a flat serving plate and pour the remaining sauce on top. Cool completely.Serve at room temperature

 

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Note:

• I used regular sugar since I dint have brown sugar
• I used Lion Dates which took a lot of time to cook as it was hard

Check out the video recipe here