Author Notes: Going through my grandmother’s recipes, I came across this cryptically-named recipe with sparse instructions. The ingredients were even more puzzling; would a recipe with 3 eggs but only 5 Tablespoons of flour even work?
What emerged from my oven was a golden loaf, rich with dates and nuts, a cousin to fruitcake and perfect with an afternoon cup of tea. Anyu knew what she was doing! —Windischgirl
Makes: 1loaf
Ingredients
-
3
Eggs
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1/2
cup Granulated sugar
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5
tablespoons All-purpose flour
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1
teaspoon Baking powder
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1
teaspoon Vanilla extract
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1
cup Walnuts, chopped
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1
pound Dates, chopped
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2
tablespoons All-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
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Cooking spray
Directions
- Heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 9×5 loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray and dusting it with flour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the beater blade, beat the 3 eggs, the sugar, and the vanilla extract at high speed until pale colored and fluffy, about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the 5 Tbs. flour and the baking powder.
- Place the chopped dates in a bowl and toss with the 2 Tbs flour until evenly coated. Combine with the chopped walnuts.
- When the eggs are well-beaten, remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape off the beater blade. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture, and using a scraper spatula, gently fold the flour into the eggs until just combined. Gently fold in half the dates and nuts until coated, then fold in the remainder.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out moist but clean. If the loaf is browning too quickly, cover it with foil.
- Let the loaf rest in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then gently loosen the sides with an offset spatula and turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
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Photo by Windischgirl
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Photo by Windischgirl