So much has been written about beloved Dame Angela in the last few weeks. An enormous amount of love for her was expressed by so many people in the media. The internet was a better place for a few days.
She will live on through her movies and TV shows of course, and here at Silver Screen Suppers Towers, she lives on too through her recipes. This one is my absolute favourite.
It’s such a simple cake, and utterly delicious. Do give it a try – with or without the strawberry cream cheese!
Angela Lansbury Walnut Date Bread
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
- 1 cup/135g chopped pitted dates
- ⅔ cup/100g walnut pieces
- 1 cup/200g granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1¾ cups/230g unbleached all-purpose/plain flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Strawberry cream cheese, optional*
Preheat the oven to 325℉ / 165℃ / gas mark 3
Generously oil a 9×5-inch loaf pan and dust it with flour.
Place the butter, baking soda, dates and 1 cup of boiling water into a heatproof mixing bowl. Let this cool. Mix in the walnuts, sugar, egg yolk, flour and vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour.
Cool for 10 minutes and remove from the pan onto a rack to cool. Slice and serve with strawberry cream cheese and freshly brewed tea.
* If you can’t buy strawberry cream cheese where you are, it’s simple to rustle some up. Add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar/icing sugar and 1 cup fresh strawberries to 8 oz/225g cream cheese and whizz up in a food processor.
* If you can’t get strawberry cream cheese where you are, there are lots of recipes online – it’s just strawberries, cream cheese and powdered sugar/icing sugar whizzed up together. It’s mad but good!
Please note, you will need baking soda / bicarbonate of soda rather than baking powder.
There are 10 of Angela Lansbury’s favourite recipes in the Murder, She Cooked book – here’s a link to it on Amazon but if you are outside the UK, switch to your own country for correct postage price. If you are in the UK or USA you can also order the book from your favourite bookstore. Lots of ways to celebrate Angela and many of her Murder, She Wrote co-stars through edible tributes. If you can share them with friends, even lovelier.
Do get in touch if you make Angela’s cake, I love getting photos too – here’s a link to my Contact Page.
Jessica Fletcher forever!
