Holiday Date-Nut “Cake” with Cherries and Buckwheat
Recently, a chat with a friend about holiday spreads set me off pondering a thing I have casually noticed, but never really pondered. My friend used the phrase “I’m known for”.
I have no idea what I am “known for” with regard to specific dishes though you all may feel differently. I honestly have never planned a menu with my signature in mind, and it reminded me sharply of my own family holiday traditions.
I recognized early that there were things “owned” by my mom or her sisters, and those were items that I unconsciously but deliberately did not include on my own holiday table. And honestly, now that my Mom and her sisters are gone, there are massive tradition gaps that are a bit confusing. Is it more respectful to try to recreate? Or is it better to simply feel the absence of the dish and reminisce the contributions and gifts of the missed person? Still working my way through that one, what do you think?
I also noticed that my Mom was not one to avoid someone else’s signature thing, and her cookie tray, while specific and recognizable as hers, included some items that were really signature to one or the other of her sisters.
For my own table, I am guided by my interests, my ethics, and things I want to try. Ingredients I have learned about and am exploring, places I have visited and been inspired by, and generally I am more about process than final product. Things that excited me, that I want to share. I am also motivated to make the spread non-performative, and one that allows me to be a guest at my own party as much as possible.
Densely packed dates, walnuts, apricots, and cherries barely held together with buckwheat flour and very little sugar.
A thing I am very interested in is the more European mindset about pastries and baked goods. Removed from the insanity of mental guilt, cravings, poor nutrition and addictive behaviors inspired by American marketing and advertising, desserts here have become so emotionally complicated. But guess what? They are food. Nutritious food when made with nutritious ingredients.
By swapping whole, ancient, and non-wheat flours & nuts for our nutritionally stripped commodity ingredients, desserts can be returned to their rightful, satiating, and sane place in our everyday diet. And that is precisely the focus of Alice Medrich’s beautiful book, “Flavor Flours”.
I started with buckwheat, because we have a local mill selling their own flour at our local feed store and meat market and it easily presented itself. I did not know yet that buckwheat was not a true grain, but is in fact related to sorrel and rhubarb. Yet, the seeds can be cooked like a grain, and made into flour, and are considered a pseudo-grain. It can have a robust, earthy flavor, and the treatment of the flour matters more than we are used to, yielding varying textures.
To my surprise, both buckwheat recipes I tried from the book ended up disappointing with their blandness. Perhaps my expectations were set too high by lovely descriptives like flowery, rose, and honey and praise for the magical quality added by the buckwheat flour. Which was not untrue, but still not as magical as I expected.
Not ready to give up just yet. I recalled a thing that maybe I was once known for on my holiday baking trays. I used to make these fancy little miniature almond-orange cakes that were finished off with a glaze that was memorable. That glaze made the cakes age so well, and took on a bit of a crystalline quality that I just loved.
And that glaze idea was exactly the thing that makes this date nut cake with cherries and buckwheat a signature thing. But I’m gonna tell you right off, this cake is poorly named. I would not use the word cake, or bread to describe it. It is dense, packed with fruit and nuts, and very little sugar. The batter is just enough to bind the fruit & nut mix into a sliceable loaf. A little goes a long way, carved super thin, the slices look beautiful on a charcuterie board, and pair well with butter, cream cheese, and stronger cheeses – I found the stilton in huntsman to be extra nice.
For the finishing glaze, most liquors you have on hand should be fine excepting things like gin. Brandy always works, Contreau, whiskey, schnapps… I happened to have been gifted a bottle of cherry liquor brought by a friend from Lisbon, and that extra fruitiness was subtle perfection. Homebrew liquor could be very nice.
About the book, “Flavor Flours.” It. Is. LOVELY. GORGEOUS. EQUISITE even.
The Carnegie Library has three available copies, and Alice Medrich has also expanded this topic into another separate book, Flavor Flours Gluten Free. But, this is not the book I would recommend if you are just beginning a journey away from processed foods and looking for practical knowledge to apply to your everyday meals. This is all about digging deeper into non-commodity baked goods.
Date-nut "cake" with Cherries and Buckwheat
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Line an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, bottom and all four sides wth parchament paper
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 300°F
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add brown sugar, dates, apricots, cherries and walnuts, and mix thoroughly with your fingers, separating any sticky fruit pieces. Set aside
- Whisk the eggs ad vanilla in a medium bowl until lightened in color. Scrape the misture into the fruit & nut mixtureand mix gently with a spatula until all the pieces are coated with batter. Scrape into the prepared pan
- To make the glaze, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the Grand Marnier, water, granulated sugar and butter and heat until the butter melts, about 1 1⁄2 minutes. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and let cool for 1 minute.
- Bake for 60 - 80 minutes, until the top feels firm and crusted. Brush the warm cakes with the glaze; allow to cool in the pan on a rack. Let cool completely before serving.
- Using the parchament paper, lift the loaf from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut very thin slices. This cake can be stored, airtight for at least 1 week at room temperature, longer in the refrigerator. I wrap in waxed paper. Makes an excellent gift.