Lumberjack Cake

If you ever want to taste just a divine homemade slice of deliciousness, this is the cake. It seriously felt like I was sitting at some fancy cafe eating a slice of cake, rather than in my home environment. It was soooo good!! The element in my fan-force oven has died so I had to bake this the 'conventional' way so it burnt a little on top, but it still tasted that good. Lovely and dense and moist. Everything a good cake should be.

*Taken from 'The Essential Baking Cookbook' a Murdoch Publication, 2000*

Ingredients

200g fresh dates, pitted and chopped

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

125g unsalted butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, grated

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup self-raising flour

icing sugar, optional, to dust

Topping

75g unsalted butter

1/2 cup soft brown sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 cup shredded coconut

Method

Grease a 20cm round springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Preheat the oven to moderate 180C.

Put the dates in a small saucepan with 1 cup water and bring to the boil. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda, then remove from the heat. Set aside until just warm.

Cream the butter and sugar in a small bowl with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Stir in the date mixture and the apple, then fold in the sifted flours until just combined and almost smooth. Spoon into the tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter is melted and the ingredients well combined. Remove the cake from the oven and carefully spread the topping over the cake. Return the cake to the oven for another 20-30 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the cake is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and leave the cake in the tin to cool completely, then turn out and place on a serving plate. The cake can be dusted with icing sugar just before serving.