dated

You children love to make date loaf. I think it’s that you have been allowed to sit up at the bench chopping up the dates. Chopping is more fun than just mixing. And I love to let you. I think it’s the time it takes to chop. Chopping takes Much More Time than just mixing. win-win.

DATE LOAF (from the Edmonds Cookery Book)

1C dates, chopped
1C boiling water
1t baking soda
1T butter
Put into a bowl and stir until butter has melted. Set aside for one hour.

1C brown sugar
1egg, beaten
1C walnuts, chopped
1/4t vanilla essence
Stir into date mixture

2C flour
1t baking powder
Sift into date mixture and stir just enough to combine. Pour mixture into a greased 22cm loaf tin. Bake at 180ºC for 45 minutes or until loaf springs back when lightly touched. Leave in tin ten minutes before tunring out onto a wire rack.

If you want to replace the dates with apricots, you’ll end up with….yes, you guessed it, apricot loaf.