Chocolate Date Cake (Naturally Sweetened)
Moist, fluffy, and naturally sweetened with dates, this chocolate cake is topped with a rich date-sweetened ganache (no sugar here either!). Easily made vegan or gluten-free!
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Servings: slices
Equipment
- 1 high speed blender with a tamper or immersion blender or food processor *see notes
- 1 mixing bowl + rubber spatula
- 1 cake pan + parchment paper (mine was 8x10 inch, 20x30cm)
Ingredients
Cake
- 10.5 ounces (300 g) (Medjool) dates (around 2 cups) *pitted, soaked & drained, see notes
- 1 cup (240 g) unsweetened soy milk *or other milk of choice
- 1 ¾ cups (220 g) white all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (100 g) almond flour
- ⅓ cup (45 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup (110 g) rapeseed oil *or coconut or other neutral oil
- ¼ cup (70 g) unsweetened (Greek) yogurt *see notes
- ⅓ cup (80 g) dark chocolate chips (optional) *vegan or dairy
Chocolate Date Ganache
- 5.5 ounces (150 g) (Medjool) dates (around 1 cup) *pitted, soaked & drained, see notes
- ¾ cup (120 g) cashews *soaked & drained
- ½ cup (130 g) coconut cream *see notes
- ¼ cup (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil *melted, see notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
You can find detailed step-by step-photos above the recipe card.
Instructions
Chocolate Date Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Soak & blend dates. Place the dates in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Let soak for 10-15 minutes to soften. Then drain and transfer the soaked dates and soy milk to a blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste (use a tamper if needed). See notes for blender tips.10.5 ounces (Medjool) dates (around 2 cups), 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.1 ¾ cups white all-purpose flour , 1 cup almond flour , ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder , 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Add wet ingredients. Stir in the oil, yogurt, and the date-soy milk mixture from the blender. Use a spatula to gently mix until just combined.½ cup rapeseed oil, ¼ cup unsweetened (Greek) yogurt
- Optional add-in: If using, fold in the chocolate chips.⅓ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake on the center rack for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before adding the ganache.
Ganache (optional)
- Soak dates & cashews. Cover the dates and cashews with hot water and let soak for 10 minutes to soften. Drain well.5.5 ounces (Medjool) dates (around 1 cup) , ¾ cup cashews
- Blend smooth. Add soaked & drained dates, cashews, coconut cream, cocoa powder, coconut oil and vanilla to a high-speed blender. Use a tamper to push the ingredients down into the blade. See notes for blender tips.½ cup coconut cream , ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder , 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- Chill. Transfer the ganache to a bowl and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes. The coconut cream and oil will help it firm up.
- Frost. Once set, spread the ganache evenly over the cooled cake.
Video
Notes
- Medjool dates: I prefer Medjool for their soft texture and caramel-like sweetness. If you don't want to splurge on it Deglet Noor can work in the cake, but for the ganache Medjool really makes the difference.
- Yogurt: I had the best results with plain, full-fat Greek yogurt but to keep this cake vegan you could try soy or coconut yogurt which has a higher fat amount.
- Coconut Cream: Chill a can of coconut milk overnight and don’t shake it, so the solid cream separates from the liquid. It's the cream we want, not the liquid.
- Coconut oil: Use refined if you don’t want a coconut flavor. Makes the ganache even creamier but could be skipped.
- Blender tip: Your best bet for blending the dates (especially in the ganache) is a high-speed blender with a tamper so you can keep pushing the ingredients down as they blend. Next best is an immersion blender, since you can move it around and press the mixture down as you go. A food processor can also work, but the bowl really needs to be on the smaller side and you'll need to scrape down the sides frequently.
- Efficiency tip: Soak the dates for both the cake and the ganache right at the start, adding the cashews to the ganache bowl so they can all soak together. This way, everything’s ready to go and you can blend up the ganache as soon as the cake is in the oven.
- Coconut-free ganache: If you can't have coconut, you can leave out the coconut cream and oil you could skip them. The result will be a stickier ganache that's not so velvety but still possible.
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates.
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