Orange Date Pound Cake

Dates are one of our favorite snacks and I wanted to try this pound cake recipe before we ate them all. These were fresh Medjool dates that I only find here in the Midwest around the winter Holidays. I would guess the packaged dates available year round would work also, but these are so sweet and moist that they really give the cake a great flavor. The orange and sugar syrup adds a nice burst of flavor and crunch to the cake. As you can see from the photo, it went fast and I had to settle for a photo with half of the cake gone. 

 The prep work is a little tedious but not hard and it does bake for seventy minutes and then needs to cool so it will take some time. A nice weekend baking project.  I did not get my bundt pan greased as well as I thought and one side stuck to the pan. I just took it out and put it in place, no one complained. 

 The recipe calls for the syrup to be poured on the cake in the pan, but I saved some and poured the small amount over the top once I had it out of the pan and turned over. Worked well and the regular sugar instead of a powdered sugar glaze adds sweetness with some crunch. If your pan is smaller than 10 inches bake the excess batter in a small loaf pan along side. It will take a shorter time to bake. This fills a 10 inch pan quite full.

Orange Date Pound Cake

Heat oven to 325°  

1 cup softened butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons orange zest

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ⅓ cups buttermilk

1 pound chopped dates (try using a scissors instead of a knife)

1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans

Glaze

½ cup orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest (could be omitted)

1 cup sugar

 Ina mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 cups sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well each time. Add 2 teaspoons orange zest. Combine the flour and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the butter milk starting and ending with the flour. Stir in the dates and pecans. Pour into a greased and floured 10 in tube pan; spread evenly.

 Bake at 325° for 70 to 75° or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

 Combine the orange juice and one cup sugar and orange peel. Pour over cake in pan. Cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely. 

YIELD: 12 to 16 servings