ORANGE AND DATE CAKE

Cooked for Andrew and Claudia, July '07

Ingredients
150g fresh dates, pitted and finely chopped
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
125g butter, melted and cooled
Syrup
Juice of three oranges (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup castor sugar, extra

Method
Preheat oven tol80°C and line a 23cm cake tin. Grease the sides of the pan and sprinkle flour evenly across the bottom and up the sides.
Pit the dates, slice finely lengthways into about 2mm widths, and then chop to an even dice. Combine the orange juice and orange rind in a bowl and add the dates. Soak for one hour prior to making the cake.

Pour the castor sugar over the egg yolks and beat until thick and pale. Add the baking powder to the flour and sift into the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Fold through.
Fold through the melted butter and date mixture.
Beat the egg whites to soft peaks and whisk in 2 tablespoons of the extra
sugar. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form and the sugar is dissolved.
Add to the cake mixture and fold through.

Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 40 minutes. The cake is cooked if a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake and place into a shallow flan dish or similar. Combine the orange juice and the remainder of the extra sugar. Stir briskly until the sugar has dissolved. Puncture the cake all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup over the still warm cake.

Serve warm, with yoghurt.