Author Notes: This is not my recipe — I wish it were. It comes from a dear friend, and it was what she always ate for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s become part of mine as well. Although it’s called a tart, it’s really more of a rustic cake or a pudding. It’s intensely sweet, incredibly gooey and rich, and it always makes me think of my friend, which is the best kind of dessert to eat at a holiday. – Savour —Savour
Food52 Review: I was eager to test this intriguing combination of a dark, moist, date cake soaked in a warm brandy syrup. I wasn’t sure how finely to slice the dates so I cut them in half and the cake turned out just great with melting pieces of sweet dates. I wasn’t sure if the syrup was supposed to get thick but I followed the directions and cooked it five minutes, then poured it over the cake when it came out of the oven. I didn’t use it all as the cake seemed to be pretty well saturated with less than the full amount of syrup. I sampled a piece of the warm, dense, moist, brandy-flavored tart, topped with a scoop of cool vanilla ice cream. It was delicious! Almost like a steamed pudding in texture. A very lovely and unique dessert. – JoanG —The Editors
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
For the Tart
-
1/2
pound pitted dates (pref. Medjool)
-
1
teaspoon baking soda
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1
cup boiling water
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3/4
cup sugar
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2
tablespoons butter
-
1
egg
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1 1/4
cups flour
-
2
teaspoons baking powder
-
1 /2
teaspoons salt
For the syrup
-
1
cup sugar
-
3/4
cup water
-
1/3
cup brandy or dark rum
-
1
teaspoon vanilla
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1
tablespoon butter
-
1
pinch salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Slice the dates. Sprinkle the baking soda over the dates, and pour the boiling water over the dates and soda. Set aside.
- Cream together the sugar and the butter, add the egg. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the date mixture.
- Pour the mixture into a greased 9″ pyrex pie plate, and bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- While the tart is baking, make the syrup: boil together the sugar and water for 5 minutes. Add the brandy, vanilla, butter and salt.
- Immediately upon removing the tart from the oven, pour over the hot syrup. Serve warm with a pitcher of cold cream to pour over the top.