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This festive and hearty cake is not only delicious, but very fragrant. Its few ingredients and steps make for easy preparation, and you can serve it plain or with Lemon Frosting. Grinding flour from whole-grain millet yields a nice cake that is less dense and heavy than when made with oat flour alone. This recipe uses no oil, and still bakes up moist without being greasy.

Recipe from Straight Up Food.

Note:
I have found millet, a non-glutinous grain, to work really well in sweet breads and cakes. You can purchase millet in the bulk section of healthier grocery stores or online and grind it yourself in a blender. You can also buy preground millet flour and use the same measurement: ¾ cup.

By Cathy Fisher,

Ingredients

For the cake
  • 1½ cups unsweetened, unflavored plant milk
  • 8 ounces dates, pitted and quartered (about 12+ Medjool)
  • 1½ teaspoons almond extract
  • 1¼ cups rolled oats, ground into flour
  • ¾ cup dry/uncooked millet, ground into flour (see note)
  • 2½ tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1 medium lemon, Meyer variety preferred)
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • ½ cup chopped almonds or walnuts (optional, for added richness and texture)
For the optional frosting
  • 3 ounces dates, pitted and quartered (4 to 5 Medjool dates)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted cashews (1 ounce)
  • Juice of 1 medium lemon, Meyer variety preferred (about ½ cup)
  • Additional nuts (optional, for topping)

Instructions

  1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a standard 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper (or use a silicone baking pan).
  2. Place the plant milk, dates, and almond extract in a small bowl, and set aside (so the dates can soften).
  3. Grind the dry oats and millet together into flour in your blender, and place into a mixing bowl. Add to this the poppy seeds, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix with a fork.
  4. Pour the soaked date mixture into your blender, and process until smooth. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients, along with the lemon zest, applesauce, and nuts (if using), and stir just until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes uncovered, until the cake is evenly browned with some cracks on the top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand for 15 minutes before removing from the pan to cool further on a cutting board. (The cake will rise during baking then fall a bit during cooling.) Cool for another 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.
  6. Meanwhile, if you choose to make the frosting, place the dates, cashews, and lemon juice in a blender with ¼ cup water, and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes (so that the dates and nuts can soften). Then blend until very smooth, and frost just before serving.
  7. To add a bit of flair, grind some nuts on top of the frosted cake using a rotary cheese grater.
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5 Comments

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(5 from 4 votes)
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Rhi3 weeks ago
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Delicious!
Will definitely be making this again : )

Cindy1 year ago
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A 5 star

Cindy1 year ago
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A great cake. I agree with the comment below, it doesn’t really need the glaze it’s excellent without it. I did make the glaze but didn’t have Meyers lemons so used regular lemons which had a more bitter flavor. I made it for my husband’s birthday and he deemed it a winner!

Shirley Madrid1 year ago
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I made these for Christmas gifts and co-workers were amazed with the delicious taste- I love the interesting texture. Time to make some more ASAP

Dianne2 years ago
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I can’t believe no one else has commented about this cake. It is unbelievably delicious! Made this a bunch of times and it always comes out great. Nice and moist. A little on the dense side. so think of the texture of a traditional banana bread. I’ve never bothered with the glaze since it’s perfect as is.

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vegan, plant-based, almond, poppy-seed, cake

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about the author

Cathy Fisher

Cathy Fisher is the creator of StraightUpFood.com, a website offering free recipes and information on eating a whole-food, plant-based diet free of salt, oil, and sugar. She is also a cooking instructor, teaching classes at TrueNorth Health Center and the McDougall Program, both in Santa Rosa, CA. Cathy began eating a plant-based diet in 1999, and in 2016 published her first cookbook, Straight Up Food: Delicious and Easy Plant-based Cooking Without Salt, Oil or Sugar. Find her on Instagram and Facebook.

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