Date and Caramel Cake is a soft and fluffy caramel cake with a chewy caramel and date puree filling and a caramel and date frosting. Topped with caramelized hazelnuts. This is one cake you are going to want to make RIGHT. NOW!
It's been a while since I posted a cake recipe on the blog and I thought it about time to change that! My last cake recipe was my Egg Yolk Sponge cake from nearly three months ago! There are a few reasons for this absence of cake.
The first is I'm not a big fan of cake. I love looking at amazing cakes, being them, eating the raw batter of them (naughty I know), but actually eating the final product isn't as appealing as say a fudgy brownie or an ooey gooey dessert. As you may have guessed, I'm more of a goo person than a structured cake person.
The second reason is cakes are big. I am only one person living with one other person. A cake is hard to get through particularly when I have a baking blog I am always testing other recipes for.
The last reason, and the main reason, is they never look how I want them to. When I make a cake, I want to create a masterpiece. An over-the-top, amazing decorating, masterpiece. However, I always end up disappointed in myself. As I have the summer off, I am going to work on my cake decorating skills and share what learn with you all!
In the meantime, lets talk about this masterpieces that, although my decorating may not be the best, is a masterpiece. A masterpiece of deliciousness!!
Lets begin with the cake itself.
How to Make the Cake
We cream butter and sugar like regular cakes but we also add melted butter to the batter later. The cake itself is a vanilla cake with brown sugar added for a richer, deeper flavour.
The Filling
The filling is a sticky and chewy caramel with chopped dates throughout. The caramel tastes like a classic caramel and when the caramel hardens in the middle you get the difference in textures in the cake. The soft and fluffy cake with the creamy frosting and the chewy caramel filling.
The Icing
The date caramel frosting is a buttercream with maple syrup, cinnamon and dates as the primary flavours. I think I fell in love with this frosting!
The final touch that is optional but highly recommended is the candied hazelnuts. They're quick and easy to make and just adds an extra touch to the cake.
I'm a little obsessed with this cake and I know you'll love it too!
I hope you enjoy this Date and Caramel Cake and I truly hope you give this recipe a go and remember to rate and report back your results in the comments below. I love reading your comments! Also #lightscamerabake on Instagram for a chance to be featured!
Date and Caramel Cake
Ingredients
Cake;
- ¼ Cup Butter, Softened (55g)
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar (90g)
- ⅔ Cup Sugar (150g)
- 3 Large Eggs
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup Milk
- ⅓ Cup Greek Yoghurt (80g)
- ¼ Cup Butter Melted (55g)
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour (240g)
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
Date Caramel Filling;
- 1 Cup Sugar (100g)
- ⅓ Cup Butter (75g)
- ½ Cup Milk
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup Pitted Dates, Chopped (200g)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Date Caramel Icing;
- ¾ Cups Butter, Softened (170g)
- 3 Cups Icing Sugar (360g)
- ½ Cup Pitted Dates (100g)
- ½ Cup Water
- 3 Tbsp. Maple Syrup (70g)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
Candied Hazelnuts;
- ½ Cup Roasted Hazelnuts, Roughly chop half of them (75g)
- 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil (13g)
- 3 Tbsp. Maple Syrup (70g)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Cake;
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and grease and line a 20cm round spring form cake pan with non stick cooking spray and baking paper and set aside.
- Cream the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light in colour.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, milk, Greek yoghurt and melted butter and beat until combined.
- Finally fold in the flour and baking powder and pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Next make the filling.
Date Caramel Filling;
- Warm the milk to boiling point.
- Place the sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar melts and starts to turn to an amber colour.
- Add in the butter and stir constantly. Pour in the warm milk abs continue stirring for another two minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla, chopped dates and salt and stir through.
- Leave to cool. It will harden as it cools so stir it every few minutes. When the mixture is firm enough to hold but not too hard to spread, this is when you want to put in the middle of the cake.
- Halve the cake as evenly as possible. Make sure the two halves are cool and the tops are level. Spread the caramel filling over one of the cakes in an even layer and top with the remaining cake.
Date Caramel Frosting;
- In a saucepan over a medium heat, place the water and dates and bring to the boil. Boil until the mixture becomes a mushy, thick mixture.
- Take off the heat and add in the cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup and stir.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Beat the butter until smooth.
- Add in the date mixture and 1 cup of icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add in the remaining icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- If the mixture is too runny to spread on the cake, lace in the fridge to set the butter.
- Spread over the tops and sides of the cake and spread the frosting as smooth as possible.
Candied Hazelnuts (Optional);
- Place the coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt in a fry pan over a medium heat and cook.
- Add in the roasted hazelnuts and fry, stirring constantly.
- All the hazelnuts should be coated in the mixture and become sticky.
- I cooked for around 3-5 minutes.
- Take off the heat and pour onto a sheet of baking paper so they don't stick to any surface.
- Decorate the cake with the roasted hazelnuts however you like and devour!
Nutrition
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