Dense walnut date cake recipe

[myabsurdlife]

I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with a recipe/technique for a really dense walnut cake cake, similar to the kind sold at Whole Foods by the slice for $12/pound in the cheese section. It makes a great accompaniment to cheese, particularly with blues (in my opinion) and I'd like to try my hand at making it myself. It may be raw but I'm not sure. There does not appear to be any binder, apart from the dates, but I can't be sure. Anyone have any ideas?

[jsebastian]

I realize that this reply is almost 2 years late; however, this post comes up as the #2 result in Google when I searched for "whole foods date walnut cake" so I feel justified.

After many searches the name of the thing is Pan De Dátil (dates & walnuts), and it is related to the seemingly more popular Pan De Higo (Figs and Almonds). I couldn't find a recipe for the date cake anywhere.

I found two recipes for Pan De Higo that are basically the same ingredients: figs, almonds, spices (cloves, anise seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon) and honey. Maybe the same preparation steps in these recipes could be used with dates and walnuts, and just omit the spices and honey?

http://www.applepiepatispate.com/fruit/pan-de-higo-spanish-fig-cake/
http://gildedfork.com/pan-de-higo-spa...

[pdxgastro]

How dense is dense?

MAL, have you ever tasted Panforte from Siena, Italy? http://www.joyofbaking.com/Panforte.html

[myabsurdlife]

That Panforte recipe may be exactly what I'm looking for. I checked the Joy of Baking site but didn't realize what the name of the cake was - thank you!

[JEN10]

I am going to give this a try, it looks great; can't wait!!! I think I will use dried cranberries and cherries instead of citron.

[HillJ]

No dates or walnuts in Panforte, lovely and delicious just the same!

[HillJ]

http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/DateWalnutBread.html

This is a go-to recipe I use, myabsurdlife. I serve this with fresh cream cheese, blues (like you mentioned) and banana jam.

If you enjoy bananas, the jam is so worth the extra steps
http://abstractgourmet.com/2007/06/ba...

Happy baking!

[myabsurdlife]

That recipe looks tasty. It's not exactly what I'm looking for (the Joy of Baking recipe looks more like a quick bread) but I might give it a try for another occasion. The cake I'm talking about was very small and almost all dates. It had an almost fudge-like consistency.

[HillJ]

I once made a date bread that used 2 cups of date puree and the result were very fudgey. I'll try to track it down.

[chocabot]

HillJ I love you for mentioning the Banana Jam.

I made a batch last night and it's heaven!

I followed your link to the original recipezaar link too. There, someone mentioned doing a version adding pineapple so that's on my to-do list.

The jam woud be a great cake filling, cheese side and is amazing w/ pb too. My plan is to make jars of it for holiday gifts.

[HillJ]

thanks, chocabot-I feel the love! That banana jam is super delicious.
Pineapple versions abound as well!