11 Mar Coffee Date Cake

I first made this cake in college before I cut wheat out of my diet. My now-husband had just bought me the Colorado Colore cookbook as a gift and I was at the beginning of my journey as a cook. Ingredients and techniques in the book were unfamiliar and exciting. I would spend a lot of time looking through the book admiring the photography and the recipes while marking all of the recipes I wanted to make (an activity I have continued to this day).

The gluten, dairy and refined sugar filled version of this recipe was one of the first I actually made from the book, and it happened to be for a family get together. I had only recently started experimenting with and thinking about food. I remember searching everywhere in the store for dates and not really knowing what they were when I found them. The list of ingredients was daunting and outside of the norm. It was also a rush to make the cake because I didn’t have any idea how to time the preparation and cook time for the dessert. Somehow I pulled it all together and made the original version of this cake for my family, who were clearly skeptical (or maybe just annoyed) of the ingredients and process. But when we all finally took a bite, a hush fell over the table and I don’t remember speaking again until every last bite was finished. The cake was that good. Worth the effort, the strange ingredients, the side glances during the rushed preparation. This experience changed how I thought about food and food preparation. It also opened my eyes to the fact that there were a lot of wonderful ingredients still left for me to discover. My journey down a path of discovering the next great thing had begun, and my appetite was hardy.

Because of this cake, coffee and dates became one of my favorite combinations. They make each other better, and they are both pretty great to begin with! Earlier this month when I blended up my morning coffee with dates and ghee (oh yeah, that recipe will be up here soon too!) I was reminded of this oh-so-formative cake of my past. Knowing the original version of this cake had gluten, dairy and refined sugar, I set out to make a version without. The substitutions worked and the cake came out with a great texture. I was concerned the caramel sauce would be out of reach, but the coconut cream reduced well and adds a beautiful finish.