Pecan Date Loaf Cake Recipe

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Combine dates and pecans. Sift sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder over dates and nuts. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

In a separate dish, beat egg yolks until foamy (save egg whites for later), and add vanilla. Then add to date-pecan mixture and blend thoroughly. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Dough should be kind of stiff. Hint: To make cake look festive, add cherries cut in half to the pecan-date mixture.

Pack dough in greased and waxed-paper lined 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. Bake in oven for 2-1/2 hours. Remove cake from oven, turn over loaf onto a cookie sheet, and remove wax paper. This is an easy fruitcake to make for Christmas.

Yield: 9 x 5 x 3 loaf

Recipe Source: Cooking with Cajun Women by Nicole Denee Fontenot (Hippocrene Books)
Reprinted with permission.