Frosted Date Ring

This is a holiday date cake from another era, when ring molds and candied cherries ruled the Christmas table. The cake itself is dense and moist, packed with chopped dates, oats, and nuts and spiced with cinnamon and cloves for that warm winter-baking aroma.

Buttermilk is the secret to the moist crumb. Its acidity reacts with the baking soda for lift and keeps the dense mixture from turning leaden under the weight of all that fruit and oats. Don’t substitute regular milk here.

The oats are unusual for a frosted cake but they work, adding a chewy heft that holds up to the long bake. Combined with sticky chopped dates and a half cup of nuts, the texture lands closer to a baked oatmeal-fruit hybrid than a fluffy sponge.

The orange buttercream is what dresses this up for Christmas. Bright citrus cuts through the dense spiced cake, and the red and green candied cherries on top read as instant holiday decoration. No piping skills required.

Pro Tips

• Grease and flour every nook of the ring mold; sticky date cakes tear easily on release if there’s a missed spot
• Chop the dates fine and toss in a tablespoon of the measured flour before adding; this stops them from clumping and sinking
• Cool the cake in the mold for 15 minutes before unmolding; pulled too soon and it can break, left too long and it sticks
• Let the cake cool fully before frosting; a warm crumb will melt buttercream right off the surface

Variations

• Swap dates for chopped dried figs, prunes, or a mix of dried apricots and raisins
• Use chopped pecans or walnuts for the nut portion; even sliced almonds work in a pinch
• Skip the candied cherries and dust with powdered sugar for a less retro presentation