Gamers' golden date slice

The Scientist went off on one of his gaming jaunts last weekend, accompanied by baked goodies as usual. He and his friends are delighted to receive any baked stuff I care to provide, which makes for a very enjoyable relationship all round. I strongly suspect that I am 'the mad baking girlfriend' but I think that's a role I can live with :)


This time there had been a special request for a recipe which one of the gamers had passed on from his mum. It's a date and carrot cake, and is always known in our house as (in hallowed tones) 'Gaming Steve's Mum's Cake'. I think she called it a Golden date slice. It's one of those heavy, moist, gingerbread-type cakes and if I'm being a little vague about how it tastes it's because I'm not sure if I've ever actually had any myself (it seems a little rude to send a cake with a nibble taken out of it!). I can, however, say that the batter is truly magnificent, and it is very very popular with The Scientist and his buddies. Hell, The Scientist starts drooling when I get the golden syrup out of the cupboard!


I asked them to take a photo of a slice of it when they ate it, and Steve himself very sweetly set up a whole photography platform to showcase it. He used the camera on his phone which seems to be a better quality one than my actual camera. As you might expect given my profession, I am not the most up-to-date when it comes to tech!

Gaming Steve's Mum's Cake (aka Golden Date Slice)
With thanks to Steve's mum!

6oz Stoneless Dates

6oz Margarine

6oz Demerara Sugar

3 oz (Approx 6 Level Tablespoons) Golden Syrup

10oz Self Raising Flour

½ Level Teaspoon Salt

2 Level Teaspoons Cinnamon

8oz Finely Grated Carrots

3 Eggs Medium to Large

2 Tablespoons Demerara Sugar


1. Heat oven to 325f/160c/gas mark3.

2. Grease a square 8" cake tin & line with grease proof paper.

3. Roughly chop dates.

4. Place margarine, demerara sugar & syrup into a large saucepan over a low heat until the margarine has melted, then remove from the heat.

5. Sift flour, salt & cinnamon into the pan, mix well with a wooden spoon.

6. Beat eggs, add to pan & mix thoroughly.

7. Stir in dates and carrots.

8. Pour into the prepared tin, level if needed.

9. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of demerara sugar over the top of the mixture.

10. Bake cake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes, the cake is cooked when it springs back when pressed and the sides have begun to shrink back from the tin.

11. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Once cooled, turn out and remove paper, wrap cake in foil and leave for two days (if you can wait that long) for it to develop its flavour.


It keeps for approximately 2 weeks if wrapped in foil and stored in a container (ha! Like it ever gets the chance!)