Ginger Date Loaf

This one comes with a funny story. I thought I’d done a really good job on this recipe and Dad thought so too. Mum was polite but she didn’t rave. I found out later she’d gone for an end of the loaf and found it hard and not too tasty. Dad, (sensible man), got a middle piece and was actually raving to Mum about it, much to her confusion. Then she got a middle piece and he got the end piece and their opinions switched. Ha ha. So, yes, the ends are not so yummy, but the middle is gorgeous, soft, gingery and the apple juice peeks through the other flavours just enough to make everything sing.

And it’s sooo  easy to make too! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Wet

2 thirds of a cup of Agave Blue Syrup. (You can use honey or maple syrup if you prefer. Honey will make it non-vegan.)

1 third of a cup of molasses.

1 cup of oil.

1 cup of apple juice.

Two tablespoons of vanilla essence.

Dry

1 to 2 Tablespoons of powdered ginger (depends on how gingery you like your treats).

Three cups of self-raising flour.

One cup of roughly chopped dates

1 pinch of salt

Instructions

Combine all the wet ingredients and stir together.

Dump in the flour and the salt and whisk with a fork just enough to combine the ingredients.

Mix in the chopped dates.

Pour the batter into a baking parchment lined loaf tin.

Put into a preheated oven at 240°C (464°F) for fifteen minutes to push up the loaf.

Drop the temperature back to 220 °C (428 °F) for another 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Allow the loaf to sit in the tin for about thirty minutes before removing it. Due to the lack of eggs, this is a delicate loaf.

It is delicious warm as a dessert and it will also stay soft and good for a few days. But good luck keeping it that long, as it is really yummy.

Tips:

If you wanted to really push this loaf up a notch, I suggest adding a cup of crystallized ginger to the batter. Just be aware, crystallized ginger is pretty high in cane sugar. I make an exception for crystallized ginger in my own diet (despite the high  cane sugar content) because I respond really well to crystallized ginger as an anti-inflammatory and it enables me to take less pain killers when I need something like that.

I figure the sugar in the ginger is healthier than a pain killer.

Sometimes it’s a bit of a balancing act! Also, it’s delicious!

And while you’re here, why not check out my short film, Why Does God Make Artists? Link Below!