Top Your Walnut Date Bread With Apple Compote

Top Your Walnut Date Bread With Apple Compote

Though apples are not local to Trinidad and Tobago, they are widely available and very familiar at home. Both dishes celebrate apples with both sweet and savoury recipes. We’ll wow you with foods that go just a little beyond apple pie. If you make any of our recipes, send us photos on Facebook or Instagram @propaeats!

DATE WALNUT CAKE with apple compôte

Varsha’s date and walnut cake is sweet and perfectly spiced with warm aromatics. Rich and moist, dates naturally sweeten the cake so that less sugar is needed. Walnuts add texture while orange essence adds an extra dimension of flavour.

Varsha tops off the cake with a yummy apple compôte which can be used to top ice-cream or any other type of cake.

Author: Varsha Mahabir

Recipe Type: Desserts

Yields: 8 Servings

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins

INGREDIENTS
  • ¾ cup or 6 ounces unsalted butter  
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 2 teaspoons orange essence 
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt 
  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom 
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts 
  • 8 ounces dates, chopped 
  • 1 ½ cups boiling water 
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • For apple compôte 
    • 1 pound granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 
    • ¼ cup unsweetened orange juice 
    • 2 tablespoons water 
    • 4 tablespoons brown sugar* 
    • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

*Add more sugar if you’d like your compôte to be sweeter

DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch pan or 9-inch round pan; set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, add chopped dates, boiling water and baking soda. Let soak for 15 minutes or until mixture cools completely.
  3. In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients. Mix and set aside.
  4. In the meanwhile, using a hand or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow.
  5. Then, add eggs and orange essence. Mix until combined.
  6. Slowly, add dates together with the liquid mixture.
  7. Add dry ingredients in three parts, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
  8. After everything is fully combined, fold in walnuts.
  9. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
  10. For the apple compôte, add all ingredients to a medium pot. Let simmer until apples become soft.
  11. Let compôte cool and top your cake with a generous amount.
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