Now I know I fell off the wagon last week with my cake-a-week promise, but I just had to let you all know about the wonderful Tasting Australia Words To Go opportunity and, if it’s any consolation, I did bake (and eat) this walnut date slice last week. So I’m still on track, even if my weight isn’t.
I’ve decided to be a little adaptable with my definition of cakes – mostly just because I love slices and brownies to bits and don’t want to have to exclude them. They are sort of cake-ish, though, don’t you think?
This Walnut Date Slice is and old favourite of mine and one that used to go into the kids lunchboxes. The recipe was given to me by my good friend Bernadette over ten years ago, back when lunchboxes were a major preoccupation with my small children. Bernadette and I met when she and her family moved to Adelaide as a result of her husbands work. She only lived here for a year, but we bonded firmly over kids, books and food and have remained fast friends.
Like many of you, I’m sure, I’d be totally lost without the love and support of a few very dear and close female friends and preserving those friendships is something that is important to me. Maintaining our friendship has been no easy feat for Bernadette and me as, after her year in Adelaide, she moved around quite a bit and lived in Sydney, Sweden, Poland, London and now Kuala Lumpur. We catch up when we can and, thanks to the internet, we can still chat about what we’ve been reading, complain about the kids and exchange recipes – so nothing much has changed, really.
The charm of home-made baked goods seemed to cool off for my lot as they aged, although their affection continues to be immediately procurable if there is any talk of brownies in the offing. If I didn’t have dates to hand, I would often substitute sultanas in this walnut date slice and they worked splendidly.
This simple recipe – really, did you expect any other kind from me? – results in a nutty slice that is not too sweet and has a gorgeous, slightly chewy texture. I had dates to use this time round and have since discovered that the remaining offspring have gone off them totally. So I ate it myself – yep, the lot.
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and grease and line a 18x28 cm (7"x11") slice pan.
- Combine dry ingredients and mix well to break up any lumps.
- Melt butter over low heat, add Golden Syrup and stir well. Pour over dry ingredients, add beaten egg and stir until mixture is thoroughly combined.
- Press into slice pan and bake 25-30 minutes.
- Cool before slicing into squares.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was![mc4wp_form id="16750"]
This looks like a good lunch box treat too. I love hanging out with my gals. It’s very important to have these friendships.
Yes, fast friends!! the slice recipe actually came from my lovely Adelaide neighbour Micheline, and occurs in our family cookbook as Micheline’s date and walnut slice (this self published tome had a very short print run!) Yum!!
Hi, Cant wait to try the recipe. You have mentioned 1 cup of coconut. Does this refer to dessicated sweetened coconut or something else.
Preserving friendships does take work but the rewards are immense. Your walnut date slice would make me happy right this minute.
Sorry to be unclear – I used dessicated unsweetened coconut.
Hi Amanda, oooh, walnuts, I love the sound of this one… thanks for another lovely recipe.
Friendships are so important… I absolutely treasure most of mine…. sadly some fizzle out with time, then there are others that you simply must let go when things go uncontrollably awry, as they sometimes do in life. : (
Walnuts and dates, what could be healthier … I’m going to try some just for the health benefits of course!
It’s lovely to have kept such a great friendship depite distance. Slices and brownies definitly count as cakes in my book- yummo!
Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe. I have made it many times. I have used two eggs instead of one. It gives a lovely moist texture.
Truely delicous recipe. So easy. I used thin lemon icing to top it off. Thankyou.