This vegan date and walnut cake has a great texture and is delicious sliced, slathered with plant-based spread and enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Bliss.
There are no unusual ingredients in this cake, so you won't need to visit your specialist health store or trawl online to make it.
The recipe is adapted from a classic Date and Walnut Teabread recipe, featured in Great British Cooking. It's made with tea, lemon zest, dates, walnuts, flour and sugar, but instead of butter, you'll use vegan margarine, and instead of eggs, you'll use mashed bananas.
The result is a wonderfully flavoursome cake with a great texture that makes it perfect for slicing. The dark muscovado sugar and dates lend caramel tones to the cake, while the walnuts bring a warm, sweet, creamy crunch.
This is the perfect cake to make for a coffee morning if you need to cater for plant-based diets. Here's how to make it.
Ingredients
- 100 g (½+⅛ cup) stoned dates chopped
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ½ lemon zest, finely grated
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) hot tea
- 40 g (3 tbsp) vegan margarine plus extra for greasing
- 70 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) dark muscovado sugar (molasses sugar)
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- 125 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) self-raising white flour (self rising flour)
- 25 g (3 tbsp) walnuts chopped (plus extra halves to decorate)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan, 350F).
Put the dates, bicarbonate of soda and lemon rind in a bowl.
Add the hot tea. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, until soft.
Put the margarine and sugar in a bowl.
Whisk until light and fluffy - some plant margarines whip better than others, so don't worry if it's a bit liquid.
Add the mashed bananas.
Stir through.
Add the soaked date mixture and mix.
Add the flour.
Fold through.
Add the walnuts.
Gently fold through.
Grease a 1 lb loaf tin and line the base with non-stick baking paper and spoon the mixture into it, levelling off. Top with the walnut halves in a line down the centre.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until risen, firm and golden brown.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Transfer to a board.
Slice and enjoy!
Print this vegan date and walnut cake
Vegan Date and Walnut Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g (½+⅛ cup) stoned dates chopped
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ½ lemon zest, finely grated
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) hot tea
- 40 g (3 tbsp) vegan margarine plus extra for greasing
- 70 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) dark muscovado sugar (molasses sugar)
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- 125 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) self-raising white flour (self rising flour)
- 25 g (3 tbsp) walnuts chopped (plus extra halves to decorate)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan, 350F).
- Put the dates, bicarbonate of soda and lemon rind in a bowl.
- Add the hot tea. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, until soft.
- Put the margarine and sugar in a bowl. Whisk until light and fluffy - some plant margarines whip better than others, so don't worry if it's a bit liquid.
- Add the mashed bananas. Stir through.
- Add the soaked date mixture and mix.
- Add the flour and fold through.
- Gently fold in the walnuts.
- Grease a 1 lb loaf tin and line the base with non-stick baking paper and spoon the mixture into it, levelling off. Top with the walnut halves in a line down the centre.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until risen, firm and golden brown.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out and finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Transfer to a board, slice and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Fiona Shaw says
Delicious, moist loaf. Really enjoyed eating this and loved that it's not too sweet like a lot of cakes.
Emily Leary says
I'm so pleased!
Emma says
Hi this claims to be a vegan recipe, and indeed the recipe looks vegan but in the method it says to beat in an egg?
Emily Leary says
Oops! Thanks for letting me know. All corrected now. (Do a hard refresh to see the updated content)
The bananas work in place of the eggs and it is indeed a vegan recipe :)
Tim Woolfenden says
Nice giveaway.Good recipes in the book my wife would appreciate
kellie@foodtoglow says
I love simple, wholesome cake-breads like this, Emily. T'would be grand to have a slice of this with a cup of strong tea! Great shot of the teabread from you as well, Emily. V enticing!
Deena says
Love the look of that crisp crust x
Ciara (My Fussy Eater) says
This recipe sounds delicious. I've only recently started cooking with dates. They have amazing flavour so I imagine this tea bread tastes devine!
Sarah Maison Cupcake says
I feel all nostalgic seeing this, it's the sort of thing my mum would have made when I came home from school.
Katie Bryson says
Mmmmm this has totally taken my fancy Emily... could do with a slice of this with my post-school run cuppa! I love traditional recipes like this... date and walnut is such a classic combo. I might just have to investigate this book.
Kaz says
Made this yesterday and it's absolutely gorgeous! I added a dash of vanilla extract as I put vanilla in everything....thanks for the recipe
Emily Leary says
Good call - vanilla is always a winner!