Date Nut Chip Cake

It's my birthday in a few days.  It's not a "landmark" birthday, or anything like that, but I'm getting to the point where birthdays are pretty unwelcomed.  Unless you think about the alternative.

This was one of my favorite birthday cakes as a child.  Typically I would ask for Date Nut Chip Cake or Angel Food Cake with Devil's Food Icing!  I guess I thought I was being funny, but it really is a delicious combination!

Date Nut Chip Cake has no icing, and it doesn't need any.  I guess some would consider it more of a coffee cake.  It's really good.

My first birthday after Dave and I got married I asked him to make this cake for me for my birthday.  I really thought it would be so easy for him since he didn't have to frost it.  My birthday was on a Friday that year, Dave's day off.  He dutifully and lovingly made the cake while I was at work.  Dave is no baker.  I found out later that during the course of baking the cake he made something like 5 or 6 trips to our next door neighbor's house (a sweet retired lady) to ask advice and have the recipe "de-mystified."  Apparently, I must have called my mom at some point and asked her to read me the recipe (I did that a lot in college) and I only jotted down the bare minimum of information - measurements and what to combine.  I've fleshed it out a little since then!

I'm not sure where my mom got this recipe.  A magazine, probably.  I've inherited her awful habit of not being able to resist leaving the grocery store without at least one magazine.

Here's the recipe.  It would be delicious after the yummy sounding chicken pot pie that Lisa has posted a recipe for.

Date Nut Chip Cake

1 cup dates, chopped fine
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine these and let cool.

Beat together:

1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine with the date mixture and pour into a greased and floured 13x9x2 pan.  Sprinkle another 1/4 cup (or so) of the chocolate chips on top of the batter and  bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Maybe someone will consider this a hint and bake this cake on Wednesday.