Date Slice

I know you must get sick of hearing about yet another food that I just love, but I can't help sharing my loves with you and I love Dates! It has ever been so. I can eat them just like raisins . . . so sweet and dense and moreisly moist. As my teeth sink into one, I can just picture Desert Bedoins rolling along the dunes of the Sahara on the back of camels, and I am very glad that I am sitting in my little cottage in the South East of England munching on dates . . . but I digress . . .



My mother always, always , ALWAYS made us Date Squares at Christmas time . . . all buttery and crumbly and oaty and chock full of dates. We just couldn't get enough of them. I'm sure she had to make more than one batch each year just to keep us happy. In fact, the very recipe that she used is in my cookbook, Recipes From The Big Blue Binder, which you can find HERE.



But it's not Christmas . . . and it seems like the wrong time of year to be munching on my mother's date squares as delicious as they are.



I have dates that need using up though . . . and so I turn to these.

Moreishly tasty Date Slices . . . delicious cake base, filled with dates, coconut and toasted nuts, and covered with a scrummy lemon icing . . .



Bet you can't eat just one!



*Date Slice*
Makes one 8 by 12 inch pan
Printable Recipe

If you like the flavour of dates and coconut, then this slice is for you. Moreishly moist and datey cake, beneath a tangy lemon icing. What's not to like! You can add 1.4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts for an extra bit of flavour and texture if you wish.

100g of dessicated coconut
7 ounces caster sugar
6 ounces self raising flour
90g of butter
1 large egg
125g of stoned dates, finely chopped
2 TBS whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the lemon icing:
1 cup of sifted icing sugar
1 TBS butter
the juice of one lemon



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Line the baking tin with baking paper and lightly grease. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Once melted cool and then whisk in the milk, vanilla and the egg to combine well.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Whisk in the castor sugar, the coconut and the dates. Pour the butter mixture over top and mix well with a fork. Spread evenly into the prepared tin.

Bake for 25 minutes until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing whisk the icing ingredients together until smooth. Spread over the cooled cake. Cut into squares to serve.