Sugar free, gluten free, Pan de Datiles (date nut cake)

This is the time of year when I start thinking about what I can make for Christmas presents. This year will be a challenge because of my newly adopted sugar free, chemical free, obnoxious obsessive lifestyle.

A while back I found a little date nut cake at Whole Foods that contained only dates and walnuts. I did some searching on the interwebs and found that it's called Pan de Datiles, and comes from Spain. I made some yesterday, and tasted it today.

Oh my, it's good.

This is a recipe for a 2 pound cake, about 16 2 oz servings.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 pounds Medjool dates (about 1 1/2 pounds after pitting)
1 cup raw cashews (about 200g)
2 cups raw walnuts (also about 200g, oddly enough)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 vanilla bean, split and scrape the seeds out
1/2 c whiskey (or brandy, whatever - I had whiskey)

Method:

Pit the dates, reserving the pits. (I noticed two of my dates had a black sooty mold inside, so beware of that.) Put the pits (still coated with gooey goodness) in a jar with the whiskey. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla seeds. Put the lid on and shake. Continue to shake from time to time while you do the rest.

Roast the nuts in the oven on a cookie tray at 350 for 5-7 minutes, just enough to bring out the aroma but not enough to change the color. Roughly chop the nuts in a food processor.

Divide the dates into two batches. Process the first batch until it clumps into a ball. Do the same with the second batch, adding the whiskey concoction (minus the pits, obviously).

Combine the two batches of dates together with the nuts in a large bowl and squish around with your hands to mix thoroughly.

Now you have to get creative and find some sort of container and pressing mechanism. I used a six inch wide round plastic food container (Glad), and a gallon jug of vinegar. Cut a couple of circles of wax paper with radii about 2 inches greater than the container. Place one in the bottom of the container with the extra folded up along the side. Plop the date nut mixture into the container being careful that it all stays inside the wax paper "cup". Put the second circle of wax paper on top and put a weight of some kind on top - mine was the gallon jug of vinegar. The idea is to press the mixture into a cake. I think ramekins might be good for little gift-sized cakes.

Let it set under pressure overnight at least.

Remove the cake from the container, flip it, remove the wax paper from the top and sides (and from the bottom if you want). Slice into 16 servings. Since it's made from dried dates, nuts and whiskey, it should last a long time even unrefrigerated, but I keep mine in the fridge. Pictures in my blog.

per 2 oz serving:

Calories 309
Carbs 38g
Fat 16g
Protein 6g