California Walnut and Date Loaf Cake

1.Pre-heat the oven to 160c fan. Stone the dates and pop them into a bowl. Pour over 180ml of just boiled water and let them sit for about 10 minutes until lovely and soft.

2.Pop the California Walnuts into a blender and blitz until fine. Transfer to a bowl.

3.Add the dates and all the liquid to the blender and whizz until lovely and smooth. Add the eggs and sugar and blitz until pale.

4.Add the oil, yogurt, self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ground California Walnuts. Blitz together until smooth and transfer to a lined 1.5 lb loaf tin. Bake for 40-45 minutes until it’s pulling away at the sides and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

5.To make the butter cream, whisk together the butter and cream cheese and then add the icing sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, until super creamy and smooth. Dollop over the cooled cake and stud with the remaining California Walnuts. Drizzle over a little salted caramel sauce and serve immediately.