Sesame, Date and Banana Cake

By Yotam Ottolenghi

Published June 6, 2017

  • Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
About 2 hours
Rating
4(952)
Comments
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Even though this cake is packed full of dates, bananas and tahini (also known as tahini paste in Britain), it’s surprisingly soft and light. You can serve it warm, if you like, with the tahini cream cheese and bananas alongside, although it’s worth the wait, if you can, for it to cool so that it can be assembled as a cake. A note on tahini: We always use tahini from one of the Arabic brands, which tend to be creamy and nutty (as opposed to a Greek or Cypriot tahini, which can be bitter and sticky). But it's also worth seeking out local or artisanal brands closer to home. Always be sure your tahini is well stirred before measuring.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

FOR THE CAKE

  • 3 tablespoons/50 grams tahini

  • ⅓ cup/75 milliliters orange juice (from 1 large orange)

  • 5 ounces/140 grams medjool dates, pitted and quartered (about 8 dates)

  • 2 to 3 very ripe peeled bananas (8 ounces/240 grams), thinly sliced

  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

  • ½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature and cut into ¾-inch/2-centimeter pieces, plus extra butter for the pan

  • ¾ cup/150 grams granulated or superfine sugar (caster sugar)

  • 2 large eggs, beaten

  • 1 ⅔ cup/200 grams all-purpose flour (plain flour), sifted

  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

  • ⅛ teaspoon salt

FOR THE TAHINI CREAM-CHEESE ICING

  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon/130 grams cream cheese, preferably at room temperature

  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon/130 grams mascarpone cheese, preferably at room temperature

  • 3 tablespoons/35 grams lightly packed light brown sugar (soft sugar)

  • 3 ½ tablespoons/55 grams tahini

FOR THE CARAMELIZED BANANAS

  • 1 ripe peeled banana, cut into ½-inch/1-centimeter-thick slices

  • 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar

  • 1 ½ teaspoons date syrup, for drizzling

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)

64 grams carbs; 111 milligrams cholesterol; 578 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 34 grams fat; 1 gram trans fat; 4 grams fiber; 304 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 39 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius. Grease an 8-inch/20-centimeter aluminum springform cake pan with butter, and line the base and sides with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    Make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together tahini and orange juice, and then stir in dates, bananas and sesame seeds, separating the date and banana pieces as you add them to the bowl so they don't clump together. Set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Put butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, in two additions, until combined, scraping the bowl down as needed.

  4. Step 4

    In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, just to combine. Add tahini-date mixture with the speed still on low and mix until blended, then spoon the batter into the cake pan and smooth the top.

  5. Step 5

    Transfer cake to oven and bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Without removing it from the oven, carefully cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil. Continue to bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake is cooked through and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside to cool in the pan on a wire rack.

  6. Step 6

    While the cake is baking, make the icing: Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk for 1 to 2 minutes, on medium speed, until combined and airy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed to mix thoroughly. Set aside until cake has cooled.

  7. Step 7

    Make the caramelized bananas: Heat broiler on its highest setting, with a rack placed about 4 inches/10 centimeters beneath the heat source. Arrange banana slices closely together on a small baking pan and sprinkle generously with sugar. Broil bananas for 2 to 3 minutes, until sugar has melted and caramelized. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

  8. Step 8

    To assemble, remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a plate. Spread icing generously over the top of the cake. Arrange the caramelized bananas on top, then drizzle with date syrup.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
952 user ratings
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Comments

Chris

For those of you whining about the date syrup, they have a new thing out. Perhaps you've heard if it? It's called the Internet, and you can find and order many great things on there, including date syrup! Heck, you could just hop in your car and tote your butt to a Middle East grocer or the international aisle of the grocery store. Or you can even look up recipes for date syrup online!! Imagine that! Still don't like my ideas?? Then MAKE A BOX CAKE instead of a NYT recipe!

Martha Gonzalez

Date syrup recipes online. Too easy not to make at home.
Ingredients
6 Medjool dates, pitted (about .3 lb)
1 cup hot water
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Place dates in a bowl and cover with hot water for at least 30 minutes until soft. Save the water.
Add dates to a powerful blender and blend, slowly adding in the water you soaked them in. Continue adding water until you achieve desired consistency (I use about ½ cup water).
The longer the dates are soaked, the smoother the consistency

dimmerswitch

Date syrup is a staple in my kitchen, along with pomegranate molasses, tahini, dates, sumac and all kinds of other Middle Eastern ingredients. I'm Anglo, my husband Italian. We love cooking Middle Eastern food and most ingredients easy to source either via ME markets or CoOps or even places like Cost Plus locally. Online otherwise. With respect to those "impatient" with recipes using ingredients new to them, isn't the point that it is fun to try new things as cooks?

BR

I made this cake for a party, so I wanted it to have a more elevated feel to it. Here are my edits: 1. Used two 9 inch cake pans, buttered, floured and lined with parchment. There was enough batter to make two thin-ish cakes. 2. Used 4 ripe bananas. Mashed 1/2 and sliced 1/2 3. 80g sugar 4. Baked at 250 for 27 minutes 5. Frosted the center and top of the two tiers (the frosting was delicious! The tahini was subtle but present) 6. Topped with thinly sliced dates

BR

@BR correction: baked at 350

Proofer

This sounds so good! I’m wondering, though…would it work as an upside-down cake, with the bananas baked into the bottom/top? The frosting would have to be served as a syrup-drizzled dollop on the side of individual servings—which I could see working visually. You’d get to eat it warm, too. My weekend bake, I think.

Elizabeth Taylor

what could you substitute for the granulated sugar?

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