This traditional dark cake is typically made with plain flour mixed with dates and topped with pecans. It is generally made with all purpose flour, but in this recipe, I replaced all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. It has all the natural sugars from dates and jaggery. Ideal for a mid-morning snack or afternoon tea break, it is a great way to use up pecans and dates, figs you have lying around in your cupboard.
Dates are the fruit from a palm tree and can be referred to as the date palm. There are thousands of varieties but they can be classified into three simple sub-groups: soft, semi-dry and dry. Depending on your recipe or your preference will determine which kind of date you look for.
Dates also happen to be a mineral and vitamin-rich food as well as a great source of dietary fiber. Recent studies show that dates can contribute to several health benefits such as can help lower cholesterol, improving bone health, promoting digestion and so much more. They may be high in sugar but like other fruits, it’s the natural kind. So when introduced into the diet correctly, the sugar and calories can be harmless. Considering they contain natural sugars this makes them the perfect addition to many sweet recipes.
Recipes With Dates:
Sugar-Free Chocolate Dates Cake
Whole Wheat Carrot Dates Prunes Cake
Chocolate Oats Dates Prunes Brownies
Whole Wheat Dates Cake
Dates Cranberries Burfi – No Sugar Sweet
Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Dates Cake
Dates Prunes Banana Cake
Khajur Gur Ki Chutney
Winter Energy Balls | Dry Fruits & Seeds Ladoo
Smooth-skinned and lusciously sweet, figs have a unique taste and texture, with slightly chewy flesh peppered with tiny, crunchy seeds. Their high sugar content pairs perfectly with similarly intense flavors, adding a burst of sweetness to savory dishes and a distinctive texture and aroma to sweet treats. Figs are technically inverted flowers that store their pollen inside the fruit. Native to the Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia, figs flavor has been described as a kind of a honey-taste with hints of berry. And of course, they give a crunchy-crisp texture from the seeds.
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Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Dates – 10
Milk – 1 & 1/2 cups
Figs – 5
Grated jaggery – 1/2 cup
Refined Oil – 1/4 cup
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Chopped pecans, fig, dates – 1/4 cup each
Flax seeds for topping- 1 tbsp
A pinch of himalayan pink salt
Method :
- Soak chopped dates and figs in 1 & 1/2 cups of hot milk for 30 minutes.
- In a deep mixing bowl add chopped pecans, fig, dates (1/4 cup each) with 1 tsp of flour. Mix well.
- In a same mixing bowl. Sift dry ingredients: Whole wheat flour, baking soda with a pinch of salt. Mix them well.
- Wet Ingredients: Now in a grinder add soaked dates, figs with milk (Use the same milk in which they are soaked), jaggery, oil. Grind the mixture until smooth.
- Now mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients well.
- Put prepared batter into a greased pan.
- Sprinkle Chopped pecans, fig, dates with flax seeds over batter and with help of spatula press nuts gently.
- Tab the pan on a countertop to release any large air bubbles.
- Put the pan into the preheated pressure cooker and bake it for 1 hour 10 minutes.
- When cake is done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove cake from the pan and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan.
- Allow cake to cool completely before slicing.
Tips:
- Baking time may vary.
- If cake batter looks dry, add 2- 4 tbsp of water or milk.
- If baking in Oven: Bake in the preheated oven at 180 deg Celsius or around 360 Fahrenheit for about 1 hour 30 minutes. The baking time may vary. So keep checking the cake after 40 to 45 minutes.
Pressure Cooker Method:
Grease the baking tin with oil and dust it by sprinkling whole wheat flour over greased surface evenly. Pour the mixture into the greased baking tin.
Important Notes:
- Use the baking tin of 6 inches in diameter, so that it can easily get into the pressure cooker.
- Use a 5-liter pressure cooker. It should be big enough to hold the baking pan.
- Baking Tin should be made of Aluminium.
- If baking tin comes into direct contact with the base of the pressure cooker, it can burn ( overbake ) the cake. So use pressure cooker container which has big holes in it or any aluminum small stand.
- No gasket and whistle are needed. Remove them before baking.
- Don’t add water to the pressure cooker.
- Avoid baking without spreading salt at the bottom. Salt absorbs some heat from the extreme hot base and prevents overheating. I never used salt in my baking because I use a heavy bottom aluminum cooker and I am baking for the past 10 years in the same cooker. It works perfectly fine. But, it depends on the brand, quality of the pressure cooker. I use prestige 5 liters heavy bottom pressure cooker for baking.
How to Bake In A Pressure Cooker?
- Heat the pressure cooker on high heat for 8 minutes. Use sea salt or sand as a layer inside a cooker. Put a steel stand on a layer of salt or sand.
- Now put the cake tin containing the cake batter ( Do not put water inside the pressure cooker).
- Close the pressure cooker lid and do not put the whistle on the lid. Remove the gasket (rubber ring) from the lid.
- Lower the flame after 8 minutes. Let it bake for 50 -60 minutes on low flame. After 60 minutes check cake with a knife, if the mixture does not stick, it means the cake is done.
- If batter still sticks to knife then again bake for another 10 minutes. Do not open the lid immediately.
- Eggless Pressure Cooker Cake is ready.
Mad About Cooking 