NANA'S DATE LOAF

Here is another delicious contribution from my good pal, Jan, in Sydney. This is her grandmother's recipe (handwritten) for Date Loaf, which Jan assures me is fantastic. Since Mike and I recently took a bit of a sabbatical and had a break on Tanjong Jara, on the east coast of Malaysia, for my birthday, I haven't been doing that much cooking so I'm taking advantage of my friends generosity and sharing her recipe with you.

When I first came to Kuching back in 2012, I went hunting for dates in the local supermarkets. Having had no luck scouring the shelves, I approached an employee and asked if there were any dates in stock. Unfortunately her English was not good and my Bahasa and Hokkien were non-existent. So I resorted to drawing a picture of a palm tree laden with little dates. Seeing her face light up with recognition, it gave me hope as I followed her, puppy-like, through the aisles. Smiling broadly, the employee pointed to a pile of coconuts...

Happily now, you can find dates in abundance at all the supermarkets in Kuching. Jan also mentioned that you can also make this loaf with dried apricots, using the same method. I'll transcribe it here in case any of you are looking at a mobile phone and can't read the small, but very neat, writing...

INGREDIENTS

2 cups dried dates, pitted

60 grams butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C (not fan-forced)

Place first 4 ingredients into a heavy-based pot and bring to the boil.

Let cool a little.

In a big bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda and add, (I always do this through a sieve to get the best result) to the date mixture.

Pour into a loaf tin.

Bake in moderate oven for about an hour.

Thank you, Jan and Jan's Nana!