Date and Walnut Cake

A little old fashioned, yes. But, really that's what makes this cake so good. It goes down so well with a cup of tea, especially during the autumn months when it's blustery outside and you really want something cosy and nostalgic.

This recipe was passed on to my mum, who bakes this cake a lot, so it really reminds me of home. It's a boiled cake, so unlike most fruit cakes, it's very simple. You will need an 18cm loaf tin (greased.)



Ingredients
60g Margarine
1 packet of slab dates
60g Brown sugar
25ml / 1 cup of water
100g / 1 cup of self raising flour
2 eggs
60g Chopped walnuts
teaspoon bicarbonate soda

To cook:
Put the margarine, dates (broken up,) water, brown sugar and bicarbonate soda into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then reduce the temperature to a gentle simmer and stir occasionally for about 15mins.
Allow to cool and add the rest of the ingredients (save some walnuts for the top of the cake,) mix together with a wooden and put into your greased baking tin.
Cook in a preheated oven at 150 C / 300 F / gas no.2 for 1hr and 30mins.