Coconut and date molasses cake with cardamom spiced icing

Autumn and winter in Bangladesh are synonymous with pitha – rice-based sweets and savouries which are prepared in celebration of the winter rice harvest or Nabanno (new rice). In many sweet pitha recipes there is the inclusion of coconut and date molasses – two key flavours in Bangladeshi cuisine – so I decided to bake an east-meets-west cake inspired by pitha season. This cake is super simple to make but tastes as though you’ve spent hours in the kitchen. Sweetened with morcha gur (date molasses) and wonderfully fragrant from coconut, it makes for a delicious addition to your baking repertoire. The cream cheese buttercream frosting is light, gently spiced and not overly sweet.

Morcha gur can be found in Bangladeshi grocery shops, however, you may substitute with jaggery which can be found in large supermarkets or Asian shops. Just chop into pieces and gently simmer until the jaggery is melted and cool to room temperature before adding to your batter. Alternatively, use equal amounts of date syrup and dark brown sugar.