Preparation
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- Combine dates and pecans. Sift sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder over dates and nuts. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
- In a separate dish, beat egg yolks until foamy (save egg whites for later), and add vanilla. Then add to date-pecan mixture and blend thoroughly. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Dough should be kind of stiff. Hint: To make cake look festive, add cherries cut in half to the pecan-date mixture.
- Pack dough in greased and waxed-paper lined 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. Bake in oven for 2-1/2 hours. Remove cake from oven, turn over loaf onto a cookie sheet, and remove wax paper.