A soft and moist crumb cake with a sweet and delicate date swirl. Topped with a perfect streusel. This gave me all the Ramadan and Maamoul Vibes. A must try cake.
CAKE
1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
12 tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground mahlab (optional)
1/4 tsp ground mastic (optional)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
DATE SWIRL
13 oz baking dates (I use this one)
1 shot of espresso or 1/2 tbsp instant coffee in 2 tbsp hot water
1/2 tbsp ground anise
TOPPING
1/2 cup semolina
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp ghee or oil
1/4 cup Milk
OR use the streusel from THIS recipe.
Mix the flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, mahlab, mastic, and nutmeg together. Add the butter and mix until it resembles fine peas. This is a reverse creaming method. I used the paddle attachment on my mixer.
Add the eggs and oil to the milk and whisk well. Slowly drizzle it in and beat your batter. Make sure to scrape the bowl because it will stick to the bottom and you want it to cream evenly or you’ll get lumps. Once you add all the liquid, beat until the batter is fluffy. Mix in the vanilla.
Add 1/2 the batter to a buttered and floured 10 inch springform pan. Beat the date paste, ground anise, espresso, and a few tbsp of the remaining batter till smooth. Spread this over the batter in the cake pan. I like to dollop then spread. It’s much easier and more even.
Top with the remaining batter. For either streusel, mix all the ingredients together and crumble it on top. You can also add nuts if you’d like.
Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes. Allow to cool and then remove and top with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Find it online: https://catastrophiccook.com/date-swirl-coffee-cake/