Go get your ingredients for the holidays, here’s the perfect cake for you. I don’t enjoy overly sweet things any more so, for a healing treat, this little bit sweet and a little bit sour Cranberry Date Upside Down Cake is spot on!
Soaking the dates in hot water makes them soft enough to mash by hand, which is a good thing since there isn’t enough to put in even the small bowl of your food processor. The resulting purée is a beautiful multi-purpose sweetener-come-silky flavour-texture enhancer. Dare I even say the word “moist”.
Blackstrap molasses is a useful ingredient to have in the cupboard, just a tablespoon adds depth to a cake – not to mention minerals. Whilst our bodies can make vitamins, minerals need to be ingested so I like to use this as my sweetener of choice wherever possible.
Whether you eat alongside a cup of tea, or as a dessert accompanied by ice cream, I’m positive you’re going to love my latest treat.
Cranberry Date Upside Down Cake
Serves 8+
Print the recipe here!
6 medjool dates
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1+1/2 cups tigernut flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1+1/4 tsp baking soda
generous pinch sea salt
1+1/2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2 gelatin eggs, as follows
for the 2 gelatin eggs –
2 tbsp grass-fed gelatin
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp just boiled water (or see instructions)
Discard the stones from the dates and roughly chop them. Put into a bowl and cover with 1/2 cup boiling water. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Place a baking sheet into the oven and preheat to 350F. Line a 8 x 2 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and tip the cranberries into the base.
Drain the softened dates, keeping the liquid for later use. Mash the dates down with a fork into a paste.
Put the pumpkin purée, coconut oil, molasses and puréed dates into the bowl of a stand or handheld mixer, and combine thoroughly. Tip in the tigernut flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt, and mix again until combined.
Next, make the gelatin eggs. Reheat the date water in a small pan and pour 3 tbsp into a small bowl, together with the apple cider vinegar. Put the gelatin into a separate small bowl. Now pour the liquid into the gelatin, whisking quickly until melted and the mixture looks frothy. With the motor running, pour the gelatin eggs into the cake mixture and whizz again just for a couple of seconds or so, to fully incorporate.
Spoon the mixture over the cranberries and level with a palette knife, or similar. Cook for an hour or until the cake is firm to the touch and the sides are coming away from the parchment paper. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before inverting onto a serving plate.
In this upside down cranberry date cake Calls for tiger nut flour. That’s expensive what else can I use? Thank you
I’d be tempted to use 3/4 cup of coconut flour in its place, as per this recipe. I haven’t actually done this so do let me know how it turns out if you try.
Wondering if this cake can be made ahead and frozen.
I haven’t tried freezing it but I don’t see why it can’t work.
I can’t get canned pumpkin in the uk what else can I use?
You can actually buy it in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, however if you want to make some, here’s a BBC Good Food recipe for you.
Hi Kate,
This looks really tasty! I can only get a different brand of dates – can you give me a rough idea of the weight, as I fear they’re a different size. Thanks 🙂
Hi Sarah. Around 2 oz before pitted, you don’t need to be precise.
Thank you!
Can I use eggs instead of the gelatin eggs?
Yes definitely. Two large ones.
Thank you!
I have a question about the gelatin. Every other recipe I’ve made with gelatin eggs says to bloom the gelatin in cold water, then heat it up once it is melted. Are you saying to pour the hot liquid directly onto the dry gelatin?
This is the way I’ve always done it and it works extremely well. You can see the cake being demonstrated here.
Can breadfruit flour be used in place of tiger but?
I’m sorry I haven’t used breadfruit flour. If you experiment please report back though!
I made this for Thanksgiving. It’s tasty but the creanberries are a little too bitter for my taste. Maybe I need to split them and soak in honey water before cooking. I don’t know.
The cake is meant to be a little sweet, a little sour so I would choose a different fruit. If you can get hold of figs, they work really well.