Matrimonial Cake Recipe (Date Slice)

4 date squares piled up on a piece of parchment paper with a blue flowered oven mitt in the background

4 from 1 vote

Matrimonial Cake Recipe (Date Slice)

This Matrimonial Cake recipe, also known as date slice and date square, is a Canadian classic! A delicious, creamy and not to sweet date filling is nestled between an oatmeal crumble base and topping.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Canadian

Keyword date, matrimonial, squares

Special Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings squares

Calories 334kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Equipment

Ingredients

Crust ingredients

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups quick oats
1 ⅓ cups brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter

Filling ingredients

1 ½ lb dates 3 ¾ cups
1 cup + 2 tablespoon hot water
¼ cup + 2 tablespoon white granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
3 teaspoon lemon juice (fresh)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and spray a square 9x13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray

Filling

Cook dates, hot water, white granulated sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt together in saucepan, over medium heat, until dates are soft and water is absorbed. *This will take about 5 -10 minutes.
Remove from heat, add vanilla extract and let cool.

Crust

Mix flour, baking soda, brown sugar and oats together.
Cut in butter with pastry cuttter. Stir until mixture is crumbly.
Tip: Freeze butter and use a cheese grater to cut butter into the dry mixture

Assembly

Spread half of the crust mixture into the bottom of a greased 9 inch square pan and pat down with a spatula.
Cover with cooled date filling.
Hint: To avoid getting crumbs in the filling, drop dollops of filling all over the crust with a spatula or spoon. Then very carefully spread it out with a butter knife, avoiding getting the dry mixture on the knife. *You have to be very patient while you are doing this!
Pat the remaining half on top of the date filling with a spatula.
Bake for 25-28 minutes.

Notes

Variations & Substitutions

Butter - you can use salted butter instead of unsalted, but be sure to skip the salt in the recipe!

Lactose-free - you can make this lactose-free by using a lactose-free butter

Gluten-free - use gluten-free flour

Dates - you can use regular pitted dates. fresh dates, or Medjool dates (they are softer). However, you are cooking them in hot water (which softens them) so regular dates are fine.

Oats - You can use old fashioned/rolled as a substitute for quick oats. Just pulse the old-fashioned oats in the food processor a few times to break them down.

Top tip

Instead of using a pastry blender, I freeze my butter and grate it into the flour and oat topping/base. It's less messy and helps to distribute the butter evenly into the mixture.

🌡️Storage

Refrigerator: Store date slices, in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 2 days (48 hours) or in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container.

Freezer: Freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can freeze them in the paper cupcake liners

Nutrition