Thursday, December 01, 2005

Baking with a new dried fruit

I've seen dates in the store for quite sometime and I've wondered what they were like. As far as I know, I have never tasted one before and was never sure what to do with them so I just kept passing them by. I noticed some at Trader Joes the other day and had to pick some up. I went looking for something to try them out on and came across a snack cake. Fresh dates are sweet, but when they dry the sugar content increases dramatically and they become very intense.

To keep the new theme going, I found a recipe that used a spice that I have not used in baking before. I have used this one in savory dishes but I've read many times that Cardamom is very good in sweeter recipes. Cardamom-Date Snack Cake is a very moist cake that is studded with chopped dates throughout and topped with a type of almond streusel. Even with being baked in a 9" pan, they rose quite high and took on an even golden brown color. An incredible amount of flavor and tenderness fills each bite of this cake. When cutting, it is best to use a serrated knife because of how moist this tasty cake is.

Because I was able to prep tonight's dinner last night the only thing I had to do was pop it in the oven. French Toast Soufflé looked a little plain sitting in the pan before going to bake, but when it came out it was almost 4" above the rim of the pan! This did not last long though so I was unable to grab a decent picture of it. The top takes on a somewhat crunchy texture while underneath the soaked bread was soft, moist, and yet not mushy. This would be a great dish for a holiday breakfast for guests.

Recipes

10 comments:

  1. The date cake sounds great! I wonder how it would taste with dried figs, I have been wanting to try those lately.

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  2. Ahhhh! Are these some kind of evil giant raisin?

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  3. Oooh, I'll have to try the cardamom date cake. Cardamom is one of my favorite spices. It's great to infuse some apple cider, too! If you like the date cake, you'd like sticky toffee pudding. It's really a cake served with, you guessed it, a toffee sauce.

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  4. Ooh, I love cardamom. It's one of my favorite spices. It's great with steeped in apple cider, too. If you liked the date cake, you should to make sticky toffee pudding. It's really a date cake with a toffee sauce.

    Otherwise, the whole dried dates are killer as an appetizer stuffed with blue cheese or parmesan.

    I'll try the cardamom date cake!

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  5. you live in phoenix and never had a date! there all over the place

    random person here. love your blog. everything always look delicious

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  6. I love that french toast souffle- quite yummy. I discovered cardamom a few years ago when I made these cute little bunny breads, flavored w/ the spice, for Easter. Since then, I'm an addict. I have several cardamom cookie recipes waiting to be tried!

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  7. Do you know what kind of dates they were? Medjool? Deglet Noor? Khadrawy?

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  8. That french toast souffle is on my list of things to try. It sounds so good!

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  9. My favorite are big, fat Medjool dates, they are buttery and sweet with a taste that can't be compared to anything.

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  10. Michele - Thanks! I bet it would be great with figs.

    Mebeth - Hee hee - close I guess!

    Vanessa - I really liked the spice of this cake and can see using it in other places too. I will have to find a sticky toffee pudding recipe!

    Anonymous - Thanks for visiting!

    Christina - Yeah! I'm glad I saved this one. Cardamom Cookies? Color me interested!

    thediningdica - Medjool!

    Chloe - Self Control and having a large chest freezer in the garage helps a ton!

    EJP - It was very good! I liked the combo and will be on the lookout for more like this.

    Amateur - Let me know if you make this one or one like it!

    Rya - Thanks!

    ungouremtgal - That's what we had and I agree they are very good!

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