Honey Cake for Everybody אַלגעמײנער לקח

 

I am anticipating your question.  If this is a honey cake, where's the honey? The honey is in the dates.  Many of the scriptural references to the honey flowing through the Land of Israel are not to bee honey at all but to the lush syrup exuded by the dates.  I did not set out to make a vegan, wheat-free honey cake, but it was inspired when I bought several young coconuts for the juice and needed to do something with the pulp and my beautiful neighbor gave me a box of succulent dates from the Holy Land (These fabulous vegan brownies were inspired by the same windfall).  You can probably make this with any kind of dates, just re-hydrate them a little if they are very dry.

If you have not yet tried green coconuts, or young coconuts, you might just love them. The flavor is very mild, so if you do not care for the flavor of mature coconuts, they will be your cup of tea.  The pulp is soft and jelly-like, making them a natural for vegan baking. 

Universal Honey Cake

12 Medjool Dates (about one cup, 8 ounces)
2 ounces raw almonds
4 ounces raw walnuts (about one cup)
4 ounces cocoa butter (about one cup depending on how coarsely it is chopped.
Pulp from 2 young coconuts (about one cup, 8 ounces)
2 ounces almond flour

(optional: 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, 1/8 teaspoon cloves) 

1/2 cup toasted pecans for garnish, or leave them raw to make this an all-raw dessert. 

Remove the pits from the dates.  Place almonds and walnuts in a processor and pulse to a powder.  Add  the remaining ingredients except the pecans and grind to combine.  Pat the batter into a nine-inch pie plate and arrange the pecan halves on top.  Chill to set.