Apple and Date cake with coconut topping

Apple and Date Cake with Coconut topping

My mother and father in laws arrived in Dubai yesterday so this was a great excuse to make this decadent dessert cake. Its full of apples and dates with a sticky coconut topping, serve it with vanilla ice cream and you have a sensational dessert.

Ingredients

2 green apples peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
1 1/2 cup of dates pitted
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 cup boiling water
125g butter
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 cups plain flour
Topping
75g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup shredded coconut
2 tbls milk

Method

Place the apple, dates and soda in a bowl pour over the boiling water and allow to cool.
Beat the butter and sugar together until thick and pale, add the egg and vanilla.
Fold in the flour and the apple and date mixture.
Pour into a greased spring form tin and bake for 45 minutes in the oven at 180.
To prepare the topping place all the ingredients in a pan, heat and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
Remove the cake from the oven and pour the topping on top.
Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin.
Transfer to a serving plate.