This date sweetened chocolate cream cheese frosting is the perfect refined-sugar free companion to your favorite cake, cupcake, or my date sweetened chocolate cake!
The tests and re-tests of my date sweetened chocolate cake finally yielded a fool proof recipe but the frosting recipes I was creating were disastrous. I tried making a date sweetened frosting with heavy cream but the cream would invariably curdle whenever I tried combining the dates, unsweetened chocolate and cream.
I finally had the idea to create a cream cheese based chocolate frosting and the result was spectacular. The date sweetened chocolate cake can be rich so the addition of tart cream cheese provided a really nice balance. You can even add the zest of 1 orange to this easy frosting for delicious variety.
My date-sweetened desserts cookbook is now available on Amazon!
Spread this frosting over Kenny’s favorite: date sweetened chocolate cake or your cupcake recipe of choice!
Printdate sweetened chocolate frosting
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: enough for 1 (2 layer) 9" cake if sides are not frosted 1x
Description
A fruit sweetened cream cheese frosting to top all of your favorites cakes and cupcakes!
Ingredients
2 8-oz package cream cheese (softened)
10 oz medjool dates (pitted and chopped)
1/2 Cup boiling water
2 oz unsweetened chocolate (melted)
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before making this recipe. The cream cheese must be softened to allow the dates to combine well.
Place the dates in a large, heat proof bowl and pour the hot water over the dates.
Let the dates sit at room temperature for at least 5 minutes until they are softened.
Grind the dates in a food processor until a paste forms. Add the softened cream cheese, the melted chocolate, the vanilla, and salt.
Blend until the ingredients are fully combined, about 2 minutes. Stop every 20 seconds to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula if necessary.
Spread the frosting over your cooled cake or store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. Let the refrigerated frosting sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes so you can easily spread it without tearing your cake.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
5 Comments
Hi Sep, I notice you specify medjool dates in your recipes. As these are a lot more expensive here than the packets of dates at the supermarket, I’m wondering if they make an essential difference. I haven’t tried any of your recipes yet but am intending to make the date sweetened chocolate cake with this frosting for my daughter’s birthday. I always have the everyday dates in the house (and we live far from shops so I don’t want to make a special trip for medjool dates either!). Have you experimented with other types of dates?
Hi Alice! Thanks so much for the question. I have not tried making these recipes with other dates. However, two aspects of the recipe make it safe to try with other varieties. First, measuring the amount of dates in ounces instead of counting out a specific amount will help make your cake more consistent with the ones that I make. Since different dates come in various sizes, measuring should help your cake turn out great. Secondly, since different date varieties have different moisture levels, make sure you don’t skip step #4 where it says to soak the dates in hot coffee. If you follow those two steps you should be able to substitute supermarket dates. The cake might taste a little different from the ones I make but with the chocolate, coffee, and vanilla you’ll hopefully get a similar delicious result! Since you’ll be straying from the original recipe a little bit I definitely recommend baking this cake at least once as a trial run before you make the cake for your daughter’s birthday. Happy birthday to her 🙂
Wow, this recipe turned out really moist and delicious. Perfect amount of sweet! Thank you!
So glad you liked it Tina!
I’m trying it with packet dates too as medjool dates are very expensive in New Zealand . Hope it works out