Orange-Date-Walnut Passover Cake
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 3cups sugar
- 1cup vegetable oil, plus more to grease pan
- 4whole oranges
- ½ to 1cup orange juice
- 6large eggs
- ¼teaspoon salt
- 2cups matzo meal
- 2cups coarsely ground walnuts
- 1cup tightly packed chopped dates
- 2 to 3tablespoons orange liqueur
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
590 calories; 30 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 78 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 69 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 85 milligrams sodium
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
- Step 1
Make a sugar syrup by stirring 1½ cups of sugar into 1½ cups of water in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes, or until syrup is reduced to ⅓ of its original volume. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-by-13-inch cake pan.
- Step 2
Coarsely grate rind of oranges. Then juice oranges, reserving juice and peel, and discarding any pith that remains. Combine reserved juice with enough prepared orange juice to make 2 cups.
- Step 3
In a bowl, beat eggs with remaining 1½ cups sugar. Add orange juice and oil, and continue mixing. Stir in salt, matzo meal, walnuts, dates and orange peel. Turn into greased pan and bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Cut into 2-inch diamonds in pan.
- Step 4
Stir liqueur into sugar syrup and pour over hot cake. Let sit a few hours before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
I made this last year and am making it again this year. It's more labor-intensive than suggested by the recipe-length, but worth the effort. I used turbinado sugar, which gave a deeper flavor/color that went well with the liqueur. I recall the cooking time being a bit longer than the 45 min listed.
The date is a symbol of the Holy Land's fertility Healthy too. Joan Nathan celebrates dates in her rich, sweet Passover cake recipe that yields a dense confection (thanks to nuts and matzo meal) and moist (due to oil, eggs, oranges and syrup with liqueur). What better time, secular or spiritual, to unite and dedicate ourselves to liberation and freedom? Cut into diamonds, each serving is a sugary gem to be eaten sparingly in commemoration of a historic exodus still relevant today.
I made this cake the day before and everyone enjoyed it. However, I thought the cake was even better the day after.
Passover desserts are often dry but this came out super moist and had nice flavor. It was worth the effort and I would certainly make again.
Made this as a test for Passover. I was confused by the difference between rind and peel but grated the rind of four oranges and didnt include peel. I found it easier to grind the dates in the food processor with some of the orange juice. I liked the texture of ground walnuts in the batter, and the overall sense of a middle eastern treat cut into diamond shaped with syrup poured over it. But, overall, I didn’t like the flavors enough to serve it to my guests at Passover
Mine came out rather crumbly. Perhaps one problem was that I cut the diamonds right when it came out of the oven, since that's what the recipe seemed to indicate. I was surprised by the texture, since I added the pulp from the oranges to the batter, thinking it would make the cake more moist. I was expecting more of a dense, date-nut bread texture and more flavor, especially with the syrup. All in all, quite disappointed, since the ingredients were rather pricey and it took alot of effort.
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