Mmmmmmmmm. That's really all I could say on Friday night after this loaf came out of my oven. Mostly because I had my mouth FULL of this really delightful cake. It was everything I wanted in a loaf (bread? cake?)...it came out moist, tasting of the dates, and holding its shape in a most wonderful way. I was inspired by Swell Vegan's Date Syrup of this week, but was reading Celine's website when I was taken oven by the desire to marry the dates and cake...and this is what I got!
Sweet Date and Cashew Bread
1 cup of oat flour
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 1/12 cups of dates
1 cup of chopped cashews
3/4 cup of soymilk
1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of dark vegany sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla
1/3 of vegan margarine
I started the recipe by chopping up the dates, quite tiny-tiny and letting them soak in some hot water, setting them aside. I also started the 'curdling' of the soymilk by adding the vinegar to it and also setting it aside. I took the brown sugar and margarine (I am sure you could use oil here), and set my hand mixer on these two ingredients. I added the soymilk and vanilla, again, giving it a good mix. It was a warm brown colour at this point, and smelled super yummy of vanilla.
I sifted the flours, baking soda and baking powder together, and added the dry to the wet. I drained the dates and added them to the mix, along with the cashews. Giving it one last good mix, I put the whole thing into a loaf pan and stuck it into a pre-heated (350) oven and baked it for 50 minutes.
Super nummy good.
Vegan Mommy Update: Had some false labour this morning. Yikes. I have been experiencing 'practice' contractions for about two months, but, unlike those, these ones HURT. Will keep you updated!
