written by Ashley Fehr
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Servings 12
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Last updated on May 25, 2020
This Coconut Date Pudding Cake has an incredibly moist date cake layer topped with caramelized coconut topping — be sure to serve it with a scoop of ice cream!
So I was asked to bring a dessert to my in-laws for Thanksgiving.
That’s pretty normal, except for the one time my mother-in-law accidentally asked me to bring a salad. I was a little confused, but I wasn’t going to ask her what she was thinking, so I made a salad. I’m sure I used a recipe and everything.
She’s never asked me to bring another salad.
Not that it was a bad salad, but I think when she said “salad” she meant “dessert”, and she’s never made the same mistake again.
So my husband asked me what I was thinking of bringing, some new idea I was going to try out?
I said, “No, something I’ve made before –“
“What?! You don’t make things twice.”
“Actually, I’ve made this recipe two times, but not for quite a while. You probably won’t even remember it. It’s a date coconut cake, I know it sounds kind of lame –“
“No! It doesn’t sound lame. I remember that cake! It’s like all warm, and gooey….”
“Yeah! It’s more like a pudding-y cake, and we ate it with ice cream..”
For real. These are the things we talk about.
Cake.
I didn’t even make up that conversation just to have something somewhat interesting to say to you before I hand over the recipe. I wish you could have seen his eyes light up when I told him what I was going to make.
We both get pretty excited about our dessert.
And just food in general.
If you’ve never baked with dates before, there’s no reason to be afraid or weirded out. The dates don’t have a really strong flavour, they add such incredible moisture and a mild, fruity flavour to the cake. Just make sure you pick up pitted dates, and all you have to do is chop them up and soften them in some water. They will be pretty dense and chewy before you soak them — that is nothing to worry about!
The cake is so rich and moist, and then it’s topped with a coconut and brown sugar topping that is out of this world. Can you even believe this is light? You could eat it plain, and it would be totally amazing.
Me? Mine looks a little more like this.
But it’s less than 300 calories a piece, so I can top it with whatever I want, right??
*This post was originally written in November 2014 and the photos and recipe have been updated. My apologies for all that stuff about my life 😉
Pin this recipe to save for later
Pin this recipe to your favorite boardwritten by Ashley Fehr
5 from 2 votes
This Coconut Date Pudding Cake has an incredibly moist date cake layer topped with caramelized coconut topping — be sure to serve it with a scoop of ice cream!
Save
ReviewPrep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Cuisine American
Course Dessert
Servings 12
Calories 290cal
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup chopped pitted dates
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp butter
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour I do about 50% whole wheat
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 large egg
Topping:
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9″ springform pan (you can use a regular 9″ pan as well).
In a small pot, combine dates, water, baking soda, butter and salt and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Set aside for 10 minutes for dates to soften.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, vanilla and egg. Pour in date mixture and whisk until combined. (I like to mash my dates a little with the whisk as I go).
Spread into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your topping. Combine brown sugar, coconut, butter and milk in a small pot (I use the same one from the dates, and just wipe it out a little). Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 1 minute.
Pour brown sugar mixture over cake and bake another 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool 5 minutes before running a knife around the edge and loosening the sides of the pan. Serve warm or cool completely before serving.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 290cal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 279mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 195IU | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1.1mg
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