Date and Nut Cake With Cherries

Submitted by coconutty

"My mom used to make a cake that contained dates, nuts and maraschino cherries. I don’t have her exact recipe so I recreated it by substituting a similar recipe for a delicious date and nut cake and added maraschino cherries. (The basic cake recipe is adapted from Maida Heatter.) Note re maraschino cherries: Most of the brands available in the U.S. are an imitation of an Italian product and contain lots of preservatives. Trader Joe’s sells a version of maraschino cherries without all the chemicals."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 8 ounces pitted dates, quartered
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1⁄3 cup maraschino cherry, drained and quartered

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Butter a 9” square cake pan.
3. Put dates, butter and baking soda in a bowl. Carefully pour boiling water over the dates; let cool.
4. Meanwhile, mix flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix egg and vanilla.
5. When the date mixture is cool, stir in egg mixture and then stir in flour mixture.
6. Stir in nuts and cherries.
7. Pour batter into the prepared pan; bake for about 25-30 minutes.