Sugar free date cake is a delicious healthy loaf cake which is naturally sweetened with fruit. There's no added sugar in the recipe, and this healthy date cake is also low fat, but is moist and scrumptious.
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What you'll love about the recipe
- A sugar-free date cake which is healthy, low fat and low calorie
- Naturally sweetened with dates and apples, with no added sweeteners. Dates and apples contain natural sugars, but these are combined with fibre and the benefits of whole fruits
- Wholemeal flour adds extras nutrients and fibre, as well as a delicious nutty flavour
- Can easily be made gluten-free and dairy free
- This easy date bread is quick to make with only 6 ingredients (plus optional cinnamon!)
PS. You might also like this healthy carrot apple and sultana loaf recipe. It's quite similar to this date loaf and has always been very popular with readers! Or try this healthy ginger cake which is also sweetened with dates and apples.
Ingredients
Dates. I used a block of cooking dates. These are cheaper than buying whole dates and as they are chopped and soaked in the recipe, I don't think you'll notice the difference. However you can use stoned whole dates if you prefer (medjool or deglet noor).
If you are a fan of dates, you might also love these date truffles, or healthy date slices which have a thick layer of date puree through the centre.
Apples provide a lovely sweet moist texture to the cake. Sugar-free date cake is made without oil or butter, but because of the apples, it has a lovely moist texture. Use a sweet dessert apple.
Plain wholemeal flour. I used spelt flour, but you can use plain wholewheat flour, or white flour if you prefer. If you use self raising flour, cut the baking powder down to half a teaspoonful.
You can also make a gluten-free sugar-free date cake with gluten-free flour. To add a little extra nutrition and fibre, switch a couple of tablespoons of the gluten-free flour for ground flaxseed. You may need to add a little more milk to the recipe.
Baking powder will provide some rise to the cake.
Egg provides structure and rise.
Milk - you'll just need a little milk in the recipe - dairy-free milk can be used if preferred.
Cinnamon is optional. It provides extra sweetness and flavour. If you don't like cinnamon, either leave it out or use another ground spice such as cardamom which goes well with dates.
Optional ingredients
I've made this cake nut free, but why not try a healthy date and walnut cake, or date and pecan loaf? Just add about 50g of roughly chopped nuts and stir them into the mixture by hand.
How to make sugar free date cake
Chop the dates into pieces about the size of a large sultana, and leave them to soak in boiling water whilst you get on with the rest of the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan).
Line the base of a 450g loaf tin with baking paper. Grease the sides of the tin.
Cut away the unpeeled apples from the core and chop them into rough pieces. Add to a food processor and blitz with an S-blade until the apple looks finely grated.
Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, egg and milk. Blitz until the mixture comes together into a smoothish cake batter.
Drain the dates. Squeeze out any excess water. Add the dates to the cake batter and stir in by hand. Don't blitz them with the food processor blade otherwise they'll be too finely chopped.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, and smooth out with the back of the spoon.
Bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes.
Once the cake is cool enough to handle, remove from the tin and peel away the baking paper. Leave to finish cooling on a wire rack.
To make healthy date cake without a food processor
Finely grate the apple and add to a bowl. Beat the egg in a separate bowl.
Stir all of the remaining ingredients plus the egg into the grated apple and mix well. Bake as per the recipe above.
Baking tips
This recipe makes a smallish-sized loaf cake. It's cooked in a 450g loaf tin, also known as a 1lb loaf tin. The dimensions are approximately 19 x 10 cm (7.5 x 4 inches).
If you want a large sugar-free date loaf, double the recipe quantities and bake in a 900g (2lb) loaf tin. Cook the larger cake for an additional 20 minutes.
You can also cook a double-sized cake in a 9-inch round tin.
I've soaked the dates in this recipe so that they are meltingly soft and delicious. If you'd prefer them a little chewier, or your dates are very soft to start with, you can omit this step.
Serving and storage
Sugar-free date cake can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Store at room temperature, unless it is particularly warm in which case store it in the fridge.
You can also freeze sugar-free date cake. Either wrap and freeze the whole cake, or wrap individual slices.
This healthy date cake is ideal as a clean eating healthy snack at any time of day. You could even enjoy it guilt-free for breakfast! It's also easy to wrap a slice or two of this delicious loaf cake in a lunchbox.
Frequently asked questions
Many cake recipes and bought cakes are very high in added sugar. However, you can still enjoy delicious cake without sugar. I like to sweeten cakes with fruit and sometimes I'll add a couple of tablespoons of honey. Browse the healthy baking collection for more suggestions of low-sugar cakes.
That depends! A sugar free cake could still be loaded with artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated fats and saturated fat, so check the recipe or packaging. This healthy sugar free date loaf cake is sweetened with fruit, and is made with wholemeal flour for extra fibre and nutrients.
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Other sugar free cakes you might like
You might like to try some of these other sugar free cake recipes. They are all free from added table sugar and artificial sweeteners. Some recipes contain a small amount of honey, most are sweetened with fresh or dried fruit.
Recipe
Sugar Free Date Cake
Equipment
- 450g (1lb) loaf tin
- baking paper
- Food processor optional
Ingredients
- 100 g dates pitted
- 3 medium apples
- 125 g plain wholemeal flour
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Cut the dates into sultana-sized pieces. Place in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to one side.
- Oil the sides of the baking tin and line the base with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan).
- Cut the flesh of the apple away from the core (no need to peel). Add the pieces of apple to the food processor. Blitz until the texture looks like finely grated apple.
- Add the flour, baking powder, milk and egg. Blitz until smooth.
- Drain the dates. If necessary squeeze out any excess water with your fingers. Stir the drained dates into the cake batter. (Don't process them otherwise you'll lose all the texture.)
- Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Once cool enough to handle, remove the cake from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
To make sugar free date cake without a food processor
- Prepare the dates, cake tin and oven as above.
- Finely grate the apples into a bowl.
- Stir the flour and baking powder into the apples. Beat the egg, then add to the cake batter along with the milk.
- Add the drained dates and continue with the rest of the recipe.
Notes
- The cake can be made gluten free with gluten free flour.
- If you use self-raising flour, reduce the baking powder to half a teaspoonful.
- For a healthy date and walnut cake, add 50g roughly chopped walnuts. Stir into the mixture by hand.
- This recipe makes a smallish-sized loaf cake. It's cooked in a 450g loaf tin, also known as a 1lb loaf tin.
- If you want a large sugar-free date loaf, double the recipe quantities and bake in a 900g (2lb) loaf tin. Cook the larger cake for an additional 20 minutes.
- You can also cook a double-sized cake in a 9-inch round tin.
- I've soaked the dates in this recipe so that they are meltingly soft and delicious. If you'd prefer them a little chewier, or your dates are very soft to start with, you can omit this step.
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.
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