Description
A simple, one-pan, warm ginger date cake recipe topped with homemade butterscotch sauce. Even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Ingredients
Scale
For the cake:
- 1 1/4 cups (200g) chopped pitted dates
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the butterscotch sauce:
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (or light cream)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Line base with wax paper, then grease paper with cooking spray or butter.
- In a small-medium saucepan, combine dates and water and bring to a boil. Then, remove from heat and mix in the baking soda until incorporated. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the date mixture in the pot until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, place the date mixture in a standing blender or small food processor and blend until smooth.
- Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time.
- In a separate medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Then whisk together until combined.
- Fold the dry mixture into the wet. Then fold in the date mixture.
- Pour mixture into prepared cake pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, make the butterscotch sauce. In a small-medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cream, and butter, stirring over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Then let it simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once cake is fully baked, remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Then turnthe cake upside down onto a wire rack (put the wire rack on a baking sheet). Pour 1/4 cup of the butterscotch sauce over the cake. Return to oven (on the wire rack/baking sheet this time) and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes.
- Let cool slightly before slicing, drizzling with butterscotch sauce (and maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream), and serving warm.
Notes
This cake is best served warm! However, if you aren’t serving the cake right away, you can make the cake in advance, freeze it (place on an oven-safe serving plate and cover well with plastic wrap before freezing), then bring it to room temperature and rewarm it uncovered in the oven (for around 20 minutes at 250F, just until the cake is warm to the touch) prior to serving. Don’t reheat it from frozen, or the cake may dry out.
This recipe doubles well, so you can easily double the recipe and freeze one of the cakes for later.
Keywords: warm ginger date cake, gingerbread cake, ginger date cake
