Eggless Date Walnut Cake

a slice of date walnut cake cut from the cake and placed on a serving board

5 from 2 votes

This naturally sweetened Date Walnut Cake makes the perfect tea time cake! This soft, dense and rich cake is also vegan and easy to make for the holidays!

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Manali Singh

Ingredients

To Soak The Dates

1 & ¼ cup oat milk 10 oz or use any milk of choice
25 pitted dates 350 grams , I used medjool dates

For the Cake

½ cup oil 4 oz , I used canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup all purpose flour 97.5 grams , divided
¾ cup atta (whole wheat flour) 97.5 grams , divided
`1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 & ¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
¼ cup oat milk plus 2-3 tablespoons as needed, use any milk of choice
½ cup chopped walnuts 65 grams

Instructions

Heat 1 & 1/4 cup oat milk (or use any milk of choice) in a wide pan on stove-top on medium heat. There's no need to boil it, just heat it up until warm. Add around 25 pitted medjool dates to it. Turn off heat and cover the pan with a plate/lid. Let the dates sit in warm milk for around 20 to 30 minutes until they really soften.
Transfer the soften dates along with the milk to a blender.
Blend until you have a smooth paste. Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 350 F degrees and spray a 8-inch round pan with non-stick spray and set aside. I usually line the pan with a round parchment paper and then spray with non-stick spray.
Transfer this dates-milk paste to the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or to another bowl if using hand mixer) along with 1/2 cup oil. Beat using paddle attachment of your stand mixer until it's all well combined.
Now, add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Place a large sifter on top of the bowl. Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup atta (whole wheat flour), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and pinch of salt. Sift these ingredients into the bowl and then mix until combined using the paddle attachment.
Add 1/4 cup of oat milk and mix.
Sift in the remaining 1/4 cup all purpose flour and remaining 1/4 cup atta (whole wheat flour) and mix until combined. Do not over-mix the batter. Add additional 3-4 tablespoons of oat milk here as needed to thin out the batter a little (total oat milk added is around 1/2 cup, this is other than the 1 & 1/4 cup that we had used earlier to soak the dates). It's a thick batter.
Add in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Fold using a spatula until the walnuts was mixed with the batter.
Transfer the batter into the prepared 8-inch round pan. Top with few walnuts pieces.
Bake at 350 F degrees for around 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, cover the pan at 30 minutes mark with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Transfer cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Let it cool for 3 to 4 hours before slicing. This is a dense cake so do not slice it while it's warm.
Once cooled, slice into pieces and enjoy. Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Notes

Let the cake cool for 3 to 4 hours before slicing. It's really important to let it cool.
You can use 100% all purpose flour (1.5 cups/195 grams of all purpose flour) for a lighter cake or 100% whole wheat flour (1.5 cups/195 grams of whole wheat flour/atta) for a more dense cake.
Use around 250 grams of dates for a less sweeter cake.

Nutrition