Black Sesame Date Cake Recipe
Healthy Black Sesame Date Cake is naturally sweetened with Medjool dates and made with red lentils, buckwheat flour, and oat flour. Bake it as a cake or muffins.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 161kcal
Equipment
- Muffin tin or cake pan 2 (8×8-inch or 9×9-inch) or 1 (9×13-inch)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates 8 to 9 dates
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened nondairy milk
- ¾ cup black sesame seeds
- 1 cup cooked red lentils (⅓ cup dried, cooked)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- ¾ cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup oat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Cook lentils: If your lentils are not already cooked, simmer them for about 12 minutes, or until soft and slightly overcooked. Drain well and let cool.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a cake pan or square pan with parchment paper, or line a 12-cup muffin tin, or lightly grease a nonstick option. (see notes)
- Soak dates: Add 1 cup of the nondairy milk to a small saucepan and heat until hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat, add the chopped dates, and let them soak for 10 minutes.
- Grind sesame seeds: Add the black sesame seeds to a blender and blend until a fine meal forms.
- Blend wet ingredients: To the ground seeds, add the cooked lentils, soaked dates with their milk, ¼ cup additional milk, and the vanilla if using. Blend until very smooth and creamy.
- Combine wet and dry: Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the buckwheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (Add ½ teaspoon cinnamon if using). Mix just until evenly combined. Do not overmix. The batter should be thick, creamy, and scoopable. Add about ¼ cup more milk only if needed.
- Bake: For muffins, divide the batter between 12 muffin cups, filling each one generously. For a cake, transfer the batter to the lined pan and smooth the top. Bake until set in the center and a toothpick comes out mostly clean: Muffins: about 30 to 35 minutesCake: about 50 to 55 minutesLet cool completely before slicing or removing from the muffin tin. This is important for texture.
Notes
This date cake works best as muffins. Use an ice cream scoop to portion the batter evenly into a muffin tin. If baking as a cake, use a large pan (9×13-inch) or divide the batter between two 8-inch or 9-inch pans for more even cooking. Fill each pan no more than halfway so the center bakes through properly.
I recommend the mini nontoxic nonstick bakeware set featured here. I used the muffin tin and rectangular pan together for this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 161kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 156mg | Potassium: 351mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 73IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 3mg
