This date cake recipe is a deliciously moist, sticky texture cake with the perfect amount of citrus. Finished with an easy toffee sauce, this is a simple recipe that you can make any day of the week. It is a lovely addition to your dessert, brunch, or even lunch box. A dollop of whipped cream would elevate this dessert to a new level.
The dates in the cake are chopped and soaked, adding more natural sweetness and moisture. We gave the date cake a boost in flavor by soaking the dates in orange juice instead of water. It provides the cake with a hint of orange citrus flavor that goes well with the dates.
The addition of homemade toffee sauce rounds out the flavor of the date cake, giving it another dimension of sweetness without being overpowering.
You can make the cake a couple of days in advance without fear of having it dry out.
Why We Love This Orange Date Cake Recipe:
- It makes a great snack cake for lunch, or you can dress it up as a fancy holiday dessert.
- Not overly sweet and an excellent cake for brunch or tea.
- The dates add some extra sweetness and richness to the cake.
- It stays moist for a few days (if it lasts that long).
- Serve it with toffee sauce for a rich, insanely delicious dessert.
Ingredients for the Cake:
- Dates. The dates add moisture and a deep caramel flavor to the cake.
- Orange Juice. Instead of soaking the dates in hot water, we used orange juice for an extra layer of flavor.
- Baking soda. The baking soda isn’t used for leavening in this recipe. Instead, we are taking advantage of the chemical reaction it creates to get the dates super soft.
- Flour. All-purpose flour works just fine. If you want to use cake flour then that works as well.
- Baking powder. The baking powder is used for the leavener and gives the cake a light texture.
- Salt. Salt enhances the flavors and brings out the caramel notes in the cake.
- Butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter. Salted butter will not add too much salt to the recipe.
- Brown Sugar. Brown sugar compliments the flavors and plays an important role in the texture of the cake.
- Eggs. Let your eggs come to room temperature before you begin. A quick way to bring the eggs to room temp is to place them in warm water for a few minutes.
- Vanilla extract. Vanilla enhances the flavors.
- Orange zest. The zest of one orange will give the cake an extra hint of citrus.
How to Make Toffee Date Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch round pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
- Combine the orange juice, chopped dates, and baking soda in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow the dates to soak for 20 minutes.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl then add the eggs.
- Add the vanilla, orange zest, and dates along with all the soaking liquid. Fold in the dry ingredients.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve the cake with warm toffee sauce.
If you want to get extra toffee goodness inside the cake, poke some holes in the warm date cake and pour half the sauce on top. Serve the remaining toffee sauce on the side. If you have leftover toffee sauce use it on top of our fresh fig cake, spoon a bit into a banana mug cake, or drizzle it on some chocolate stout ice cream.
Soaking the dates will get them soft. The process is even faster if you add baking soda and heat the mixture. After it sits for a while, the dates break down and turn into a gooey, mushy puree. It doesn’t look pretty but it adds so much flavor and moisture to the cake.
Add the eggs one at a time and let them emulsify into the batter. Room temperature eggs will incorporate better than cold eggs and give the cake a better texture.
Our microplane is one of my favorite tools. It does a fantastic job at making super fine bits of orange zest that get distributed all over the batter. Fine bits of orange zest are so much nicer than larger chunks that you would get with a knife or channel zester. The orange zest really helps the citrusy orange flavor pop in this orange date cake.
Add half of the flour and stir it in before you add the rest. Using this technique to add the flour will help keep the cake tender and reduce gluten formation.
Recipe Variations
If you adore date cakes and crave that moist date goodness, we have a few recipes to try. Each variation puts an easy yet creative twist on this favorite classic.
Chocolate Chip Date Cake
Add ½ cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter. When the cake is finished baking, drizzle it with chocolate sauce.
Sticky Date Coconut and Caramel Cake
Add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to the cake batter. After baking, poke small holes in the cake and pour caramel sauce over it. This will give you a sticky, decadent cake that’s sure to impress.
Easy Date and Nut Cake
Make a simple streusel topping with oats, brown sugar, and almonds or pecans. Spread the topping over the cake before baking. This variation makes a great coffee cake.
Tips and Tricks:
Chopping the dates will leave a bit of a sticky mess on your knife. You can coat the knife in cooking oil before you begin. We don’t recommend purchasing pre-chopped dates because they tend to be dry and hard. However, if you do get pre-chopped dates, make sure you let them soak a bit longer to soften up.
The orange juice and date mixture will foam when you add the baking soda. Make sure your saucepan is large enough to accommodate the chemical reaction.
Put the date puree in the fridge to cool down quickly if you don’t have time to wait for it to come to room temperature.
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More Recipes You Will Love:
This Instant Pot hot fudge cake makes its own fudge sauce while it cooks. This is a cake you need to eat with a spoon and plenty of ice cream.
Our stout gingerbread cake has a rich, robust flavor from the stout beer. This is another cake that would taste fantastic with a bit of sticky toffee sauce ;).
This chocoflan cake is impossibly delicious and so fun to make. It is part chocolate cake and part flan and both parts bake at the same time in a large bundt pan.
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Date Cake
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dates pitted and chopped (about 2 cups packed)
- 1-½ cups orange juice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-¾ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup 12 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
Topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 inch round pan with nonstick spray and line it with parchment paper.
- Place the chopped dates, orange juice, and baking soda in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Let the dates soak for 20 minutes and let it come to room temperature.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and creamy.
- Beat the eggs in, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, orange zest and the dates along with all the soaking liquid. Beat well until incorporated.
- Fold in half of the flour mixture until only a few streaks of flour show. Fold in the rest of the flour until well combined.
- Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 35 to 43 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve warm or cold with sticky toffee sauce.
Notes
- Soaking the dates in hot orange juice helps soften them. Adding baking soda to the liquid breaks the dates down much more efficiently and turns the mixture into a gooey, sticky puree. The date puree makes the cake super moist.
- The orange juice will foam up quite a bit when you add the baking soda. Make sure your saucepan is at least 2 quarts to give room for the foam reaction. You can stick the mixture in the fridge to cool down quicker.
- The dates will stick to your knife when you chop them. A little oil on your knife will help a bit. You could also purchase dates that are already chopped but they are a bit dryer and may need a few extra minutes of soaking time.
- A microplane does a great job at zesting the orange and creates smaller particles of zest that will distribute more evenly throughout the cake.
Louise
Saturday 22nd of July 2023
This cake turned out beautifully, but would of liked it a little more mist. Got rave reviews! I have run out of butter can l substitue it with sun flour oil or sour cream, if so how much? The toffee sauce was divine 🙌 UK fan👏👌
Dahn Boquist
Sunday 23rd of July 2023
Technically, you can substitute the butter with oil but it will turn out differently. I haven't tried swapping the butter for oil in this recipe so I can't say how it will turn out but it will be more moist with the oil. Generally, I use slightly less oil in a recipe than butter but some recipes do fine with a 1:1 swap. I wouldn't swap all the butter with sour cream however, as that will drastically change the ratio of fat and milk proteins and make a more coarse cake.