Gingery Date Cake + October classes

plus a bonus apple cider old fashioned cocktail recipe for paid subscribers!

I have a great, simple gingery date cake recipe to share with you, but first I’m excited to let you know that my October class schedule is OFFICIALLY LIVE! All info about my classes (inc FAQs) is right here. All classes include recipes, a grocery list + a recording of class. We have a lot of fun!!!!

All classes take place at 2p EST live on zoom.

Sun. Oct. 2: A Cozy Vegetarian Dinner / SIGN UP HERE!!

Join me to make the coziest fall dinner that happens to be vegetarian. We’ll start with hot toddies that have lots of fresh orange in them and move onto the creamiest, most full-flavored roasted tomato soup. To go with the soup, wonderfully messy open-faced broccoli melt sandwiches. For dessert, my favorite ginger cookies turned into ice cream sandwiches because why have a cookie when you could have two filled with ice cream?! As always, make-ahead tips, variation ideas, and more are offered during class.

• Orange Hot Toddy

• Creamy Roasted Tomato + Orzo Soup

• Open-Faced Broccoli Melts

• Ginger Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sun. Oct. 9: Three Favorite No Pressure! Pressure Cooker Meals / SIGN UP HERE!

Have an Instant Pot (or another multi-cooker or pressure cooker) and want some SUPER EASY, VERY FAST recipes to make in it? Interested in one but not sure how it works? Join me for this informative class where I’ll walk you through how to use the Instant Pot and share three of my favorite fast recipes to make in it: Easiest Ever Pasta Bolognese (no need to boil or drain your pasta! No splattered stove!) / Cheesy Chicken + Rice with Lots of Vegetables (the best one pot meal ever, in no time at all!) / Three Sisters Stew with Pecan Relish (a completely vegan stew with beans, corn, and squash, plus a rich, crunchy pecan relish to serve with it). I will suggest variations for all of the recipes and will answer all of your questions. [This is NOT sponsored! I am just really enjoying my new-to-me Instant Pot and want to share what I’m learning!]

• Easiest Ever Pasta Bolognese

• Cheesy Chicken + Rice with Lots of Vegetables

• Three Sisters Stew with Pecan Relish

Sun. Oct. 23: A Fun Mexican-Inspired Dinner / SIGN UP HERE!

Such a fun, colorful meal full of comforting and bright Mexican flavors! We’ll start with pomegranate margaritas that you can sip on with the easiest (and best, in my humble opinion…) guacamole. For the main event, chicken tinga that you can make with white or dark meat (or just use the sauce to simmer some beans if you’d like the meal to be vegetarian!). I’ll walk you through how to make the tinga in a pot or in a pressure cooker. On the side, a zippy slaw with jalapeño dressing + cotija cheese. For dessert, super simple tres leches milkshakes because who doesn’t want one of those?!! As always, tons of tips, ideas, make-ahead notes + leftover suggestions offered during class!!

• Pomegranate Margarita

• Easiest Guacamole

• Chicken Tinga + Warm Tortillas

• Cabbage Slaw with Jalapeño Dressing + Cotija

• Tres Leches Milkshakes

SATURDAY Oct. 29: A Happens-to-be-Vegan Halloween Meal / SIGN UP HERE!

*** NOTE THAT THIS CLASS IS SATURDAY OCT 29th— NOT ON SUNDAY ! ***

Just to be FESTIVE!, everything in this happens-to-be-vegan menu is either black or orange for Halloween. Besides the color story, it’s also a delicious, hearty fall meal. We’ll start with espresso martinis (they’re consumed a lot on Below Deck, the TV show I watch most often…) and then move onto an orange rice pilaf full of carrots and turmeric. That rice will be enjoyed with a simple, deeply savory black bean + tomato stew, and to round those out, a platter of roasted squash dressed with maple syrup and vinegar. For dessert, a simple pumpkin bread studded with lots of chocolate chips. Fun + simple!!!

• Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini

• Rice Pilaf with Carrots + Turmeric

• Black Bean + Tomato Stew

• Roasted Squash Agrodolce

• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

We made this Gingery Date Cake in my class this past Sunday in celebration of Rosh Hashanah (which you can purchase a recording of if you’d like, just like with all of my classes). It’s such an easy, flavorful cake that I thought it’d be fun to share here.

You make the batter *mostly* in a blender and the blender does all the work of pureeing dried dates and fresh ginger into the batter. The dates add richness and color and do most of the sweetening. The large amount of fresh ginger makes the cake nice and spicy, but you could also substitute dried ginger. I normally don’t ever ask anyone to dirty an extra bowl if you don’t have to, but if you add the flour to the blender, the batter becomes too thick to mix and get out of the blender— so just blend everything but the flour, then mix that in a bowl with the flour, and that’s that!

A note on topping! The recipe as written just includes a generous dusting of powdered sugar on the cooled cake. This is beautiful and delicious and looks like it just snowed on the cake. But! But! You can also make a simple glaze if you prefer a glaze. We made apple cider old fashioned cocktails in class (recipe below for paid subscribers only!!) so I did a simple mixture of about a cup of powdered sugar with about 2 tablespoons fresh apple cider and wow IT WAS SO GOOD drizzled on the cake. You could do powdered sugar + any juice or jam— orange juice, lemon juice, raspberry jam…glaze to your heart’s content! Or just powdered sugar. Whatever you want.

Serve the cake as is, or with a big spoonful of soft whipped cream and/or a scoop or vanilla ice cream. Sour cream whisked together with some brown sugar or maple syrup would also be great.

To make this cake vegan, just use your favorite egg substitute in place of the eggs.

GINGERY DATE CAKE / Serves 8

• Baking spray

• 1/2 cup hot coffee (or just hot water)

• 8 Medjool dates, pitted

• A 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried ginger)

• 2 large eggs (or your favorite egg substitute if you’d like the cake to be vegan)

• 1/2 cup neutral oil (such as vegetable or canola)

• 1/2 cup [100 g] sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 cups [260 g] all-purpose flour

• Powdered sugar, for serving (or a simple glaze, see note above!)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Spray an 8-inch cake pan with baking spray, line with parchment paper, and then spray the parchment paper just to be safe.

Place the coffee and dates in a blender or food processor, cover and let sit until the coffee is cooled and the dates are a little bit softened. Add the ginger, eggs, oil, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon to the machine and puree until very smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl, stir in the flour and stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake until firm to the touch and a toothpick tests clean, about 35 minutes.

Let the cake cool to room temperature. Dust generously with powdered sugar before serving.

Here is the cake with the apple cider glaze instead of powdered sugar!! It’s pictured with the rest of the menu from this past Sunday’s class (sesame chicken schnitzel, shaved fennel + apple salad, and the apple cider old fashioned cocktail). See here for more about the class!

That’s it! Hope to see you in class sometime in October!!

xo, Julia