Sticky Date & Ginger Cakes with Tahini Caramel Sauce
These little cakes are a blast from the past from when I worked in commercial kitchens in the 90s. Sticky date cake (or pudding) was often featured on the menus. From memory, these were an overly sweet teeth-tingling experience, so I have reduced the sugar in the cakes so the date and ginger can shine. Served alongside a smooth tahini-spiked caramel sauce that ties this sweet treat together. Or, if preferred, skip the tahini and replace it with 2 tablespoons extra cream.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (160g) pitted dates, roughly chopped
- 1 cup (250ml) boiling water
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup (125ml) olive oil (or use melted butter or coconut oil)
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 tsp finely grated ginger root
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (220g) plain flour (can use gluten-free)
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
Tahini Caramel Sauce
- 50 g butter
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (85ml) cream
- 2 tbsp tahini (or 2 tbsp extra cream)
- pinch of salt
- toasted sesame seeds for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C). Grease and line 12 medium muffin tin holes (or use a large loaf tin).
- Place the chopped dates, boiling water and baking soda into a heat-proof bowl and set aside to soak for 15-20 minutes.
- While the dates are soaking make the caramel sauce. Combine the butter, sugar and cream in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over a low heat for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the tahini (if using) and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside and continue with the cake batter.
- Place the dates and water into a food processor and blend into a rough paste. Add the oil/melted butter and sugar, and blend briefly to cool the date mixture. Then add the eggs, fresh ginger and vanilla, and blend again until smooth.
- Place the remaining dry ingredients - flour, spices, baking powder and salt - into a bowl. Whisk to combine then add to the processor, pulse 6-8 times until just combined. Scoop into the prepared muffin tin to ¾ fill each hole. Or pour into a greased and lined loaf tin.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes (or 40-45 minutes for a larger loaf) until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer the cakes to a cooling rack.
- The cakes are best served warm drizzled with the tahini caramel sauce - reheat as needed and pour into a jug. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve. Lightly whipped cream and yoghurt (2 parts cream to 1 part yoghurt ) is an agreeable accompaniment.