This apple, date and walnut cake makes a delicious tea-time treat. Easy to make, the cake not only looks impressive but is also packed with high-fibre, nutritious ingredients. As well as adding taste and texture, the natural sweetness of the fruit also reduces the added sugar content of the cake.
Serves: 24
Dietary: suitable for vegetarian
Contains: eggs, gluten (plain flour, wholemeal flour), tree nuts (walnuts)
May contain: soya (margarine), sulphites (dates, muscovado sugar, apricot compote)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Margarine for greasing
3 large eggs
175 g margarine, melted in the microwave for 30 seconds
200 g self-raising wholemeal flour
150 g self-raising plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
150 g light muscovado sugar
3 medium eating apples such as gala or Cox’s, unpeeled and cored
100 g dates, stoned and chopped into pieces
100 g walnuts, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp apricot compote
METHOD
- Heat oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas mark 4 and grease and line the base of a 18cm/7” square cake tin.
- Beat the eggs into the cooled margarine and set aside.
- Put the flours, cinnamon and sugar into a separate bowl and mix well.
- Cut two of the apples into 1 – 1.5 cm chunks and stir into the flour mixture with the dates and half the walnuts. Mix well.
- Pour the egg and margarine mixture into the flour mixture and stir. If the mixture is too dry, add a little milk until it comes together to make a thick batter. Spoon into the cake tin and smooth the top.
- Slice the remaining apple thinly into rings and place on the top of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts over the top.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour -1 hour 15minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Heat the apricot compote and brush over the top of the cake. Allow to cool completely.
- Cut into small squares.
This recipe has been donated by Emily Cleland
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Per serving:
Total calories: 186 kcal
Fat: 9.4 g
Saturated Fat: 2.5 g
Carbohydrate: 22.5 g
Total sugar: 11.9 g
Free sugar: 7.3 g
Fibre: 0.5 g
Protein: 3.3 g
Salt: 0.3 g
NUTRITION FACTS
- Walnuts are thought to be beneficial to healthy aging as they are a good source of polyunsaturated fats (omega 3 fatty acids) and contain antioxidant nutrients.
- Using the dates and unpeeled apple adds sweetness to the cake, thereby reducing the free sugar content of the cake and together with the use of wholemeal flour increases the fibre content.
- Eating a diet rich in fibre is important as it is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer. Foods with fibre also makes us feel fuller and help with digestion and prevent constipation.
- Dates are also rich in potassium and offer other nutrients such as niacin, copper, iron and magnesium.
VARIATIONS
- The nuts could be omitted for a nut-free cake and replaced with 50g dried fruit in the cake mix (no need to sprinkle any on the top).
- Hazelnuts could be used in place of the walnuts.
- Other fruits such as pear, tinned pineapple or plum could be substituted for the apple.
PHOTOS
