Absolutely Moist and Delicious!
I have always shied away from sugar, but when it comes to dates, it’s a different story. Dates have the highest natural sugar content, but they are also rich in potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. I must admit, dried dates don’t look so pretty, especially the ones sold in bulk.
This date and coconut loaf is one of my favourite cakes. I always eat it one slice at a time. I also make sure that the tea or coffee accompanying it is sugarless. When I make it I never add walnuts because my kids carry all the cakes I bake to school and most schools are “Nut Free Zones.” The cake is moist, sweet and irresistible. Please try it and give me some feedback
Date and Coconut Loaf
Preparation time: 30 minutes; Baking time: 40-50 minutes; Makes:8.5” x 4.5 inch (21.6 x 11.4 cm) loaf
Ingredients
- 100g (1 cup minus 2tbsp) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 130g (1 cup) chopped dried dates
- 120ml (½ cup) boiling water
- 125g (4.5oz, 8 tablespoons, ½ cup + 1 tablespoon ) room temperature butter
- 100g (½ cup) fine grained sugar
- 1 egg
- 30g (¼ cup) desiccated coconut
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Grease an 8.5” x 4.5 inch (21.6 x 11.4 cm) loaf pan and line the base with parchment (grease-proof) paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C ten minutes before using. Sift the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Combine dates with the boiling water. Cover and leave for 15 minutes.
- Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat until combined.
- Fold in the sifted flour, coconut, milk and undrained dates.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, bake 40-60 minutes at ) . Stand 5 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool.
- For cup measures: spoon the flour into the cup, heaping it up over the top, then slide a knife across the top to level off the extra. Be careful not to shake or tap the cup to settle down the flour or you will have more than you need. I use a 240ml American cup.
Points to note:
- Please note that oven temperatures are given as a guideline only. You may need to add or reduce the suggested temperature depending on your oven. I baked this cake at 375°F (190°C) for the first 30 minutes, then reduced to 350°F (175°C) for a further 20 minutes, but it was too brown.
- This cake is very soft and moist, so handle with care.
- Please ensure you line the base of the tin with parchment paper (greaseproof paper).
- Last updated: 01 June 2019
myfavouritepastime.com
Step By Step Photos
Always make sure you assemble all ingredients before you start
Combine dates with the boiling water. Cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer
until light and fluffy.
Add the egg
and beat until combined
Fold in the sifted flour, coconut, milk and undrained dates
and stir until the batter is just combined. Do not over-mix
Spread into the prepared pan and bake 40-60 minutes at 360°F (180°C)
Stand 5 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool.
myfavouritepastime.com Last updated: 01 June 2019
My Favourite Pastime 
Aha, messaging you from Blighty… The cake was divine, perfect as you say with a cuppa. But the best bit for me was the step by step photos and clear simple instruction…. I work at a special needs school, and we’ve just got into using tablets, and now we can use them in our cookery lesson too! It helped the youngsters so much to see what each stage should look like. Brilliant. Thankyou.
Dear Nessa,
I’m so sorry I took so long to respond to your wonderful message.This week has been extra busy for me, so I’ve been popping in and out of the blog. First of all I had to google Blighty and I’ve really had a good laugh coz it says it’s a slang for Britain (LOL). Thank you so much for giving me a feedback (i’m glad the cake was divine). It’s the best feedback I’ve received since I started this blog one year ago. I have been contemplating doing away with the step by step instructions with pictures because it takes quite a bit of time to prepare. I’ve been wondering whether people really find the steps useful. Now at least you’ve confirmed to me that you’re using them for cookery lessons so I will continue posting with photos. It’s alway a relief to work hard on something people are using. Thank you so much for your feedback. I wish you all the best in your cookery lessons. My warm regards to your students. Thank you for teaching me a new slang “Blighty”
Best wishes,
Liz
Can i make it as cupcakes?
Hi Heba,
Try baking at 180C (350F) for 20-30 minutes. I’m not sure how it will work out though coz I’ve never tried it before. Good luck!
Liz
Hi liz. This sure looks yummy……..and ur step by step pictures are sooooo good.
Hi thanks for stopping by and thank you for reminding me about the Date and Coconut Loaf I made several weeks ago. I love this cake, it’s really good and is one of my favourites. Thanks for complimenting me too. I hope the pictures will inspire you to cook/bake. Hope to see more of you in future. Have a wonderful weekend!!!
I can’t wait to try! I love homemade cake with a herbal tea!
Love herbal tea too, I really love all tea: lemon grass, ginger, cinnamon, Earl Grey, name it I’ll take it.
Hi again, Liz. Just wanted to post a follow-up on this recipe…see my note here.
Hi again, Liz. Just wanted to post a follow-up on this recipe…it’s now a favorite of ours and I have made it several times. It’s a great base to play around with as well: I have a loaf in the oven now with more flower to make it more cakey and chocolate chips. And as the ultimate compliment, my son Cassiel used your recipe (and picture) for a school project on cooking!
I have missed you soo much, where have you been???? I was almost going to send you an e-mail. Nice to hear from you after such a loooong spell of silence. I love the date cake, it’s on my list of favourites, and I’m glad you love it too. You son, Cassiel is a star please give him big hugs and kisses from me, and tell him Aunt Liz says “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOR USING THE RECIPE AND PICTURE, FOR YOUR SCHOOL PROJECT ON COOKING”, I really appreciate your support and friendship. Now that you’ve done so many variations, why don’t you post the loaf with more flower as a guest post? I look forward to your post, anytime you are ready. I could never forget the first people to support “my favourite pastime”, when it just started and was looking soo lonely. Thank you always for your support and friendship. XOXO to the kids!
P/S you posted twice so I will delete the duplicate.
Couldn’t take a picture that day, as the cake was attacked and eaten to death before it could even cool. It was delicious, but next time if I was making it with more flour, I would add another egg to help bind it together. Now I’m off to get started on the poppy seed cake…
That sounds familiar, sometimes I bake cakes more than once before I get photos right e.g. the poppy seed cake, I had to do it twice. Please mail me a slice of the cake. I have just been taking some long overdue photos (Date cake with Almond and another quick mix butter cake). Now I have to make some salads, then bake some cookies. One of these days fine days we shall drop by…Take care and thank you always for your support. I truly appreciate!!
The cake was delicious. My boys gobbled it all up! But they wouldn’t have touched it if they had known it was full of dates, so I just said it was Auntie Liz’s Coconut Cake. SHHH! DON’T TELL!
I love that date cake…it’s in my list of “top ten favourites”. Thank you for trying the recipe and thanks for the feedback! Nobody ever realizes there are dates in there…and I WONT TELL!!!
I tried the recipe and made the cake and it was really sweet and I loved it so I thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Oh thank you for giving me a feedback. I love the date cake too! It’s one of my favourites!!!
I’ve never been a fan of coconut recipes, but this I would try. Looks delicioso.
I love coconut. Cook with it at least three times a week! Thanks for visiting the blog!!!
do i have to have dry or juicy dates?….the ones from the supermarket are of two kinds, there are juicy ones and dry. Does it really matter which ones i use?
I actually used the dry dates I bought from the bulk store, that’s why they have to be soaked. But I think you can use either, and soak them all the same. Let me know the outcome. That photo is so nice…was it taken at a school?
lovely..cant wait to try
Hi Ajema thanks for posting a comment. Please make one of those cakes and give me a feedback! I shall be posting two to three times a week, so keep checking!