This was apple, date and walnut cake.
J's friend gave him an apple from an apple orchard in Maryland. I didn't know what a kind of apple it was. Sweet or Tart? Either way, I knew I could make a cake with it!
I wanted to make a healthy cake. No egg, no refined sugar, no butter. I found a
recipe pf Vegan Date Nut Bread on Food52.com. It looked just what I was looking for. I adapted it with some changes. First I reduced dates to 1 cup and soaked them with apple brandy instead of hot water. I replaced cane sugar with coconut sugar and reduced the amount to 1/2 cup because I assumed 1 cup of dates would sweeten the cake enough. Then, I processed the dates into paste. I was going to use coconut oil, but didn't have enough. So I replaced it with mixture of 1/4 cup of melted butter and 1/4 cup of peanut oil. This little butter made my cake non-vegan, but I was sure the flavor would be nice. And I added chopped apple in!
The cake was nicely tender and moist. Moreover, boozy! When I bit a part where date paste was populated, I tasted strong brandy. A little too much for me while J didn't mind.
Next day of the baking day the brandy became somewhat mellow. Or I got to be used to it? The cake was better. I was glad J liked the cake. I can make it again during this coming apple season!
