Magical Christmas Date Cake from a Hannah Swensen Mystery
This recipe is from my Grandma Ingrid. She used to make this cake every Christmas.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped pitted dates
- 3 cups boiling water
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup 2 sticks softened butter
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 cups flour (you don't have to sift it)
Instructions
- Pour the boiling water over the dates, add the soda (it foams up a bit) and set them aside to cool.
- Chop nuts while dates cool.
- Cream the following ingredients together in a large mixing bowl the butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and flour
- Once the above are thoroughly mixed, add the cooled date mixture to your bowl and stir thoroughly.
- Butter and flour (or use Pan Coat) a 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular cake pan.
- Then sprinkle the following on the top, in this order, BEFORE baking:12 oz. chocolate chips (2 cups)½ cup white (granulated) sugar1 cup chopped nuts (use any nuts you like I prefer pistachios, the original recipe calls for walnuts or pecans)
- Bake at 325 degrees F. for 80 minutes.
- A cake tester or a long toothpick should come out clean one inch from the center when the cake is done. (If you happen to stick the toothpick in and hit a chocolate chip, it'll come out covered with melted chocolate-just wipe it off and stick it in again to test the actual cake batter.)
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- It can be served slightly warm, at room temperature, or chilled.