Chocolate, Date and Nut Cake

Recipe and photograph – Dr Joan Ransley

An easy-to-bake, showstopper chocolate cake with a prune, date and nut twist. This recipe uses ground almonds instead of flour and has no added sugar. Best enjoyed with a mid-morning cuppa!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C fan/Gas mark 5. Roughly chop the dates and prunes. Place in a bowl together with the orange juice and zest and mix well.
2. Transfer the dates and prunes to the bowl of a food processor and add the ground almonds, eggs, vanilla extract, cocoa powder and butter. Process for one minute and then stop and scrape around the bowl of the food processor to ensure even mixing.
3. Add the roughly chopped dark chocolate. Process the mixture for another 30 seconds until well combined.
4. Scrape the mixture into a lined 17cm (7in) loose-bottom cake tin and bake for 25 minutes or until firm to touch. Let the cake cool slightly before removing from the cake tin.
5. Serve the chocolate cake with a pile of fresh raspberries, crème fraiche or Greek yoghurt.

Alternative serving suggestions

Slices of this cake would be delicious served with a compote of dark cherries or a portion of defrosted frozen cherries.

Cooking tips

This recipe also works well made with 250g of soft dates or any combination of dates and/or prunes. The butter should be at room temperature so it can mix easily with the other ingredients. To store the cake, place in an airtight tin or container, and leave in a cool place.