Date Honey Nut Cake – a moist, tender cake bursting with flavor. This super easy quick bread cake is lovely served with tea or coffee. It’s also a nice change from standard honey cake – perfect for Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, or any holiday!
When I received a batch of organic dates from a kibbutz in Israel, I found myself wondering what to do with them. These sweet, luscious dates on the vine were perfect for snacking, but how else could I get creative with them?
Date nut cake was an obvious choice, but I wanted to do something a little different. With Rosh Hashanah coming up, my mind wandered to honey cake. The thought of sweetening date nut cake with honey seemed like just the ticket.
Voila! The Date Honey Nut Cake was born. This tasty loaf cake is a unique take on a traditional Rosh Hashanah honey cake.
Dates are actually a symbolic food for Rosh Hashanah, so it’s a great choice for the holiday. In Hebrew, a date is called a “tamar,” which is related to the word “tam” (meaning “to end”) and the word “sheyitamu” (meaning “to be consumed”).
Dates are eaten in the hopes that our enemies will be consumed. They also happen to be naturally sweet, which is another good reason to eat them for Rosh Hashanah (as we hope for a sweet new year).
And here’s another fun fact– biblical scholars believe that the honey repeatedly mentioned in the Torah likely came from dates (and other fruits), not bees. Yet another good reason to eat dates for Rosh Hashanah!
So, what better way to enjoy dates than in a sweet, delicious honey cake? The dates provide lots of moisture, which makes this a convenient make-ahead dessert—the cake will not dry out if you make it a day or two before the holiday begins.
The walnuts add some nice texture and crunch. It’s naturally dairy free, but can be topped with cream cheese frosting for extra decadence (if you’re not worried about keeping it parve).
I hope this cake ends up on your holiday table. It will definitely be on mine.
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Date Honey Nut Cake
Ingredients
- 6 ounces whole dates (3/4 cup)
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch nutmeg
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use avocado oil, canola oil can also be used)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Nonstick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place dates into a bowl and cover them with very hot water. Let the dates soak while you prepare the cake batter.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, brown sugar, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir till a thick batter forms.
- Drain water from the dates. Pit the dates, then chop the fruit into small chunks.
- Fold the walnuts and date chunks into the batter.
- Generously grease your loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into loaf pan.
- Place loaf pan in preheated oven. Bake cake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool.
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
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Amazing!!! Loved this recipe. I did change it to gluten free by switching the cake flour to sweet potato flour and added a 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum. I made it yesterday and its already half gone. Will be making this again, and again and again. Thank you so much!
Nicholle Larson, did you use the same amount of sweet potato flour vs the regular flour?
How i wish i could have discovered this last Christmas. I received a box of well chosen dates of good brand from U.A.E.. can’t wait this March to do this as I would receive one from my niece again… However, can I bake this as muffins? They’re a lot easier and quicker on baking time.
Much love from the Philippines.
It should work fine as muffins. Enjoy!
This was amaxing, thank you!
Hello,
I plan on making this recipe but I would like to substitute the honey for something else any suggestions?
Thank you
Christina
Date honey or agave can be used.
I plan to make this but wil also add some grated orange rind.
I have whole fresh Medjool dates which are super squishy, soft and melt in the mouth. The soaking in water would turn them into a liquid mush. Can I just cut them up (hard enough, they’re so tender and full of juice) and add them as is?
Looks like a great recipe. I’d like to try it. Thanks
Hi Malou, as long as they are tender go for it. 🙂
Just made this in advance of the break fast. Do I put it in the fridge or leave it out?
Thanks,
For freshest taste I would refrigerate, then take out the morning you plan to serve so it comes to room temperature. Enjoy!
Hi Tori. As an Ashkenazi man married to an Iraqi Jew, your recipes are absolutely perfect. This cake looks amazing, and I’m going to try this one for Rosh Hashanah, but as we’ve got 40 people (Ashkenaz, Iraqi, Bahraini and Egyptian origins!) coming round, I’d like to do this in advance. How long in advance can I cook this, and should I keep it in the fridge or elsewhere? Thanks for your amazing work.
So glad you’re enjoying the site! You can bake this a few weeks ahead, so if you do it this weekend no problem. I would suggest freezing each cake by wrapping in plastic wrap, then again in aluminum foil– or place the plastic-wrapped cake into a freezer bag, removing as much air as possible. Take the cake out the night before and let it thaw at room temperature overnight. You can also pop it in a 325 degree oven for a few minutes before serving to reheat, if you want a more freshly baked flavor. Enjoy!
I love this recipe. Have made it several times. Even when I make a mistake it’s delicious. Today I substituted applesauce for oil and made squares. We vwryone is surprised how much they love dates.
Hi,
thanks for the recipe! It turned out amazingly and we had it with ice cream on the side for dessert.
I made it with more honey to sugar ratio, and I think more dates so it turned out a lot thicker than yours looked so maybe next time I’ll try to make it a little more runny.
I was thinking of making the dates into a paste before, do you have any experience of how that might work?
This recipe was so delicious! My family loved it! I added chia seeds and one teaspoon of cacao powder. Thanks!!
Great idea for modifications Amelia!
The first time i made this recipe I used grapeseed oil.. next time I want to use coconut oil. Do you think its a good Idea to use coconut oil?! Thank you very much..!
Coconut oil should work fine.
I followed your recipe by the letter but …. athough it did rise it also stayed soggy all over. I believe its the cake flour I used. The tast was delicious though. Will try again next time but with another type of flour.
I took it out of the oven after 55 mins and it was already a little too brown around the edges – on the verge of burning, so I would recommend checking it after 45 mins. Otherwise, it’s great!
Hello thanks for sharing. Do you think I can substitute with almond flour?
I never recommend a 1-1 substitute when baking without testing it myself. You could use a gluten free all purpose flour substitute with a 1-1 ratio, but almond meal alone may not work right.
The cake is very good even though I accidentally added double the oil (received a call while adding ingredients). Once I noticed the mistake, I tried draining some of the oil. Still it fried while baking. And we still enjoyed it. Will make it again (with my cell in another room) in a few days. Thank you.
Turned out amazing!!! I did add some caramelized almonds on top for an added sweet crunch. Thankyou so much for the recipe Tori…☺️
Tried this today. Love dates. It’s delicious and amazingly light. Wonder if I could add more dates. YUM. Thanks.
Would regular flour also work?
Thanks!
Hi Elana, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Using regular flour would give the cake a more dense texture. You can also make a cake flour substitute by measuring out one cup of regular flour, removing 2 Tbsp and replacing the 2 Tbsp with cornstarch.
good to know. thank you!
I made this yesterday and it was delicious. I would cut down on the brown sugar and add a bit more honey as we love the honey flavour. A spoon of whiskey wouldn’t hurt! Shana Tova and thanks.
good flavour….cameòut so well?thanks alottt
Delicious cake! Thank you very much for recipe baked I yesterday, followed your steps. Family is asking to repeat the success ?