Date Walnut Coffee Cake

4.89 from 9 votes

This Date Walnut Coffee Cake is a delightful treat, made with coffee-infused soaked dates. Topped off with a luscious Coffee Buttercream, it pairs beautifully with a cup of hot coffee. Perfect for the fall and winter months, this cake is a must-have for the holiday season!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Author: Nisha Kapur

Ingredients

To Soak Dates

2 cups dates chopped
1 1/4 cup fresh hot coffee

For Date Walnut Coffee Cake

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
1 organic egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla
add soaked dates & coffee
1 cup walnuts dry roasted & chopped

For Coffee Buttercream

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 tbsp hot coffee start with 3 and add 1 more tbsp if need be

To Garnish

1/4 cup walnuts dry roasted & chopped

Instructions

PREP.
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
Soak Dates. Soak 2 cups of chopped dates in 1 1/4 cups of hot coffee.
Dry Roast Walnuts. Dry roast walnuts for 3-5 minutes until you can smell the aroma. Set aside to cool, then chop walnuts. You'll need most of it for the cake and some for garnish.
PREPARE BATTER.
Dry Ingredients. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients. Combine room temperature butter and brown sugar in a large bowl, and use an electric mixer to mix until well combined. Add an egg and vanilla extract. Mix the batter well until light and creamy for about 3-4 minutes. The batter should be a light mocha color.
Alternate Between Dry & Soaked Dates. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix until well incorporated, but do not over mix. Add half of the soaked dates with teh coffee. Mix well until well combined.
Repeat. Repeat this process 2 more times alternating between the dry ingredients and soaked dates, and ending with the dry ingredients. Remember not to over mix. Walnuts. Add walnuts. Fold them into the batter, do not over mix.
BAKE. Transfer the batter into a greased loaf tray and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Use a toothpick or knife to determine if your cake is baked. I baked mine for 60 minutes. Allow the cake to cool. In the meantime, prepare the coffee buttercream.
MAKE COFFEE BUTTERCREAM.
Coffee Buttercream. In a large mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, 3 tabelspoons room temperature unsalted, butter, instant coffee, vanilla extract, and half of the hot coffee. Mix until well combined. Add the remaining hot coffee and mix well. The end result should be creamy coffee buttercream.
Frost Cake. Once the cake has cooled, drizzle the coffee buttercream all over the cake. Garnish with walnuts, slice, and enjoy with hot coffee.

Notes

This recipe was first published on January 10, 2019, and has been modified and updated since.

✓ Soak Dates - Soak chopped dates in hot coffee for at least half an hour.

✓ Do NOT Over Mix Batter - At any time, do not over mix the batter.

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