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Fennel, date and orange cake
( SERVES 8 )

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This recipe owes a debt to a wonderful carrot cake by Michael Lee-Richards, published about 20 years ago in North & South magazine.

3	Eggs
¾ cup	Neutral oil, (such as rice bran)
1½ cups	Firmly packed brown sugar
1	Orange, finely grated zest
¼ cup	Sour cream
1⅔ cups	Wholemeal flour
1 tsp	Baking soda
½ tsp	Fennel seeds, chopped
1 tsp	Ground ginger
½ tsp	Salt
1 large	Fennel bulb, coarsely grated (300g weight or about 3 cups) - save fronds for garnish
⅔ cup	Desiccated coconut
1 cup	Dried date, finely chopped

100 g	Unsalted butter, softened
3 Tbsp	Brown sugar
200 g	Cream cheese, at room temperature
1 handful	Fennel fronds

Heat the oven to 160C. Grease and line a 23cm tin.
Beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, orange zest and sour cream until well combined and thick. Add the flour, baking soda, fennel seeds, ground ginger and salt and stir until just combined, then fold in the fennel, coconut and dates.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 1h 20-30, or until a skewer plunged into the cake comes out cleanly. Let cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, beat the butter and brown sugar together until soft. Add the cream cheese and beat again until smooth. Spread thickly over the cold cake and arrange the fennel fronds on top. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week (this cake is best kept in the fridge in warm weather).

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