A Low-Fat, Low-Starch Cake of Healthy Date Nutrients
Healthy and Delicious Energy Booster!
Delicious, Easy, Low-Fat and Health Power-packed with Dates, a Bread Desert that boosts energy and strength.
The Dates of Lebanon Palm Trees
Date fruits are a produce of our land as well as of the region, extending to North Africa and the Arabian Gulf. Unlike the tropical Palm Trees that produce coconuts, our regional ones provide us generously with Date Fruits.
While our mighty Cedars grow in our highest mountains, our Olive Trees in the plains and hills, and our Pine Trees extend from the mountains and mounts to the coasts, our Palm Trees grow by the coasts where the weather is more clement all year long.
You can see them even along main roads and highways in many parts of Lebanon, specially in the North and the South, but also in some parts of our Capital.
Lebanese Date Fruit: A Culture of Energy Booster
Dates are very popular during the month of Ramadan when our communities of the Islamic faith fast from dawn to sunset. It is mostly with dates and Laban that they break their fast.
This tradition ensued from the health power-pack that the dates provide, specifically the boost of energy and strength.
Culturally, our Christian communities add dates to their diet during Lent, for the same reason, yet it is not as traditionally enforced as with our Islamic communities during Ramadan.
Nationwide, our date fruits are consumed at maturity, raw or stuffed with almonds. They are also part of several pastries, cookies and desserts of our cuisine.
Dates with Marzipan
Among these delicious treats, I could cite our so famous Maamoul with date, the Date Cake with its different variations, date with marzipan, and date paste rolled in balls around a walnut or almond and coated with sesame seeds.
The Low-Fat Recipe of Date & Apple Cake
Made with Brown Flour for extra fibers and less fat, this Date Cake has 8 g Fats only and 27 g Starch in 1 piece.
It is sweetened enough to make it delicious and light, with just 190 calories/piece to call it a dessert.
Part of the dates are incorporated in the dough in a creamy form, which we bring about by soaking the fruits for few minutes and mashing them. At the last stage of the preparation, we add more dates cut in pieces and the cut apple.
This Date & Apple Cake is very delicious when consumed as is or with Vanilla Ice-Cream.
Date Health Benefits
I cannot possibly pass this recipe without citing the health benefits of the dates because of their significance.
Enjoy it! Life is Good!
Low-Fat Date Cake with Apple
Ingredients
- 1 cup Date Fruits cut in small pieces
- 1 Apple (big) peeled and cut in small pieces
- 2 cups Brown Flour
- 2 tsps Baking Powder
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Sugar Powder
- 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
- 1 cup Water (hot)
Tools
- Food Processor
- Non-stick baking pan 25 cm x 10 cm
Instructions
Preparing The Dough
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Mix flour and baking powder, and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, vanilla, and sugar with a food processor on high speed for 2 minutes.
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In a 3rd bowl, soak half the dates in the hot water for a minute, and mash them into a creamy texture, and add it to the whisking egg mixture.
Whisk in the oil, followed gradually by the flour mixture, and keep it whisking for two minutes or until the cake dough is complete.
Mix and Bake
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Preheat the oven at 180C
Remove the bowl from the food processor, and mix in with a wooden spoon the apple pieces and the remaining half of the dates.
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Pour the mixture in the oiled pan, and bake for 35-45 minutes. Check with an inserted toothpick to make sure the cake is well done.
Cool and Serve!
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Remove the pan over the stove and leave it to cool at room temperature.
Turn the cake upside down on a serving plate, and cut into 15 equal pieces.
How much flour and you mentioned “brown flour”. By that do you mean whole wheat flour?
Abby, hi again 🙂
It is a baking flour labelled “Brown“. It is used to bake brown bread which is different than the wholemeal or whole wheat that has nothing added or taken from it. The Brown Flour usually contains about 85% of the original grain. Some bran and germ would have been removed.
You could find the Brown Flour in the cake ingredients’ section of your local supermarket. Brown Flour would be written in large on the flour pack or bag.
You need 2 cups of Brown Flour for this recipe.
All the best!