Date, olive oil & fennel cake

Date, olive oil & fennel cake

Winter

If you like the peppery, herbaceous qualities of a good extra-virgin olive oil and the sweet, clean taste of fennel seed, then you’re sure to like this cake, too. It’s a dairy-free cake, so has a different feel from a classic sponge made with butter. It’s denser, richer and full of that distinctive, gritty texture dates bring; they are extraordinary in this way. I like to make a quick syrup of honey and olive oil to trickle over the cake as it comes out of the oven, which the cake greedily soaks up the way a freshly baked focaccia soaks up sweet balsamic vinegar and grassy olive oil. This cake is amazing served warm with whipped mascarpone.

Serves 8–12

Ingredients

  • 250g (9oz) white self-raising flour
  • 100g (3½oz) light soft brown sugar
  • 150g (5½oz) unrefined golden caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 teaspoons fennel seeds, toasted and coarsely crushed
  • 200g (7oz) soft sweet dates (medjool dates would be perfect), stoned
  • 300ml (10½fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
  • zest and juice of 2 oranges
  • 3 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons runny honey

Method

Heat the oven to 165°C/320°F/gas mark 2–3.

Place the flour, sugars, salt, baking powder and 2 teaspoons of the crushed fennel seeds into a large mixing bowl.

Place the dates, 250ml (9fl oz) of the olive oil and all the orange juice in the jug of a blender and whiz until you have a relatively smooth, fine mixture. Add the eggs and orange zest and whiz again to combine.

Pour the purée over the dry ingredients and, using a spatula, fold the two together thoroughly. You will have a sweet, fragrant batter.

Grease a 20cm (8in) springform cake tin, then line it with baking parchment. Spoon the mixture into the tin, spreading the cake batter evenly with the back of the spoon.

Place the cake in the centre of the oven and cook for 50–60 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Avoid opening the oven to check the cake or the cake may sink a little. When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and let it stand in the tin.

Warm the remaining olive oil together with the honey in a small pan over a medium heat. Use a cocktail or kebab stick to prick the surface of the cake all over. Spoon the hot honey and oil over the cake, allowing it to seep gradually into the warm sponge. Sprinkle over the remaining fennel seeds, then allow the cake to cool.

The cake will keep well for several days, but to my mind is best eaten while still warm.

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