Pastel de Datil Sudcaliforniano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •9-inch round cake pan or 9-inch loaf pan
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting pecans
• •Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or a hand mixer
• •Box grater for the piloncillo
• •Small heavy-bottomed saucepan for the glaze
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the dates

   Place the chopped Medjool dates in a heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water over them and stir in the baking soda. The mixture will foam and the dates will begin to break down. Let them sit for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice with a fork to help them soften. The dates from Comondu are sticky and dense and they need this hot soak to release their sugars. Do not skip the baking soda. It pulls the tannins out of the date skins and gives the cake its dark, almost mahogany crumb.

2. 2

   Toast the pecans

   While the dates soak, heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the pecans and toast them, shaking the pan every 30 seconds, for 4 to 6 minutes. They are ready when they smell like warm bread and the cut sides have turned a shade darker. Tip them onto a cutting board and chop them roughly. Raw pecans will give you a flat cake. Toasted pecans give you the bitter edge that balances the dates.

   Watch the pecans the way you would watch chiles on a comal. They go from toasted to burned in less than a minute and there is no recovering from it later.
3. 3

   Prepare the pan and oven

   Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan or a 9-inch loaf pan with lard, then line the bottom with parchment. The lard greasing gives the crust a deeper color than butter and helps the cake release cleanly. This is how the mission cooks did it because lard is what they had and it works.

4. 4

   Cream the lard and piloncillo

   In a stand mixer with the paddle, or with a hand mixer in a wide bowl, beat the lard and the grated piloncillo on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. The mixture will look sandy at first, then turn smooth and a shade lighter. La manteca es el sabor, even in a cake. Piloncillo is not brown sugar. Brown sugar is white sugar with molasses added back. Piloncillo is the raw concentrated juice of the cane and the flavor is darker, smokier, almost mineral. Use the real thing.

5. 5

   Add eggs and vanilla

   Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl. Add the Mexican vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds. Use vanilla from Papantla in Veracruz if you can find it. It is the original vanilla, the one the Totonac people cultivated and the rest of the world borrowed.

6. 6

   Mix the dry ingredients

   In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, canela, salt, and clove. Use Mexican canela, which is the soft, flaky bark of Ceylon cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon, the hard stick most American supermarkets sell, is harsh and woody and will fight the dates instead of complementing them.

7. 7

   Combine and fold

   With the mixer on low, add the soaked dates with all of their soaking liquid to the lard mixture. It will look broken and ugly. That is fine. Add the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing only until the flour disappears. Fold in the toasted pecans by hand with a rubber spatula. Overmixing makes a tough cake. Stop the second you do not see any more dry streaks.

8. 8

   Bake until set

   Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake on the middle rack for 50 to 55 minutes. The cake is done when the top springs back at the center and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. The crumb should be dense and dark, almost like a pudding cake. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

9. 9

   Make the piloncillo glaze

   While the cake cools, combine the piloncillo, cream, butter, and the pinch of salt in a small heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the piloncillo dissolves completely and the glaze thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 6 to 8 minutes. Do not let it boil hard or it will turn grainy. Pull it off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. It will thicken further as it sits.

10. 10

    Glaze and finish

    Set the cake on its serving plate. Pour the warm glaze slowly over the top, letting it drip down the sides on its own. Do not spread it. The uneven drip is part of how this cake looks at every kitchen table in Mulege and San Ignacio. Scatter the toasted pecan halves across the top. Let the glaze set for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with strong black coffee. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy Medjool dates from a Mexican producer if you can find them. Datiles de Comondu and San Ignacio are sold through specialty importers and at some mercados in Mexico City and Tijuana. California Medjools are a reasonable second choice. Deglet Noor dates are too dry and will not work in this cake.
• •Piloncillo comes in dark cones, sometimes called panela. Grate it on the large holes of a box grater or chop it with a heavy knife. If your piloncillo is rock hard, microwave the cone in 15-second bursts until it softens enough to grate. Do not substitute brown sugar. The flavor is wrong and the cake will taste flat.
• •If you cannot find lard, use a high-quality leaf lard from a butcher who renders it themselves. The lard from the supermarket baking aisle is hydrogenated and tastes like nothing. If lard is impossible, use unsalted butter, but understand the crumb will be lighter and the crust paler. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.

Advance Preparation

• •The cake keeps at room temperature, well wrapped, for three days and the flavor deepens overnight as the dates and piloncillo continue to marry. This is a make-ahead cake by design.
• •The cake without the glaze can be frozen, double-wrapped, for up to two months. Thaw at room temperature overnight and make the glaze fresh on serving day.
• •Piloncillo glaze can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. Rewarm gently over low heat with a splash of cream to loosen before pouring.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 135g)