Queen Elizabeth Cake

This Queen Elizabeth cake is a lightly sweet date cake, topped with a brown sugar, butter and coconut broiled topping. A Canadian classic cake!

Despite the name of this cake, this Queen Elizabeth Cake is classically Canadian! This delicious date cake really took hold here in the early 1950’s, around the time of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and is still being made and enjoyed here many years later.

Why you’ll love this Queen Elizabeth Cake!

The lovely Queen Elizabeth Cake is somewhat reminiscent of the cake part of sticky toffee pudding cake, but on top, rather than a toffee sauce, this one is topped with a butter, brown sugar and coconut mixture, that is broiled until bubbly and golden. The caramel-coconut topping is the perfect sweet topping for the date cake.

Queen Elizabeth Cake stays fresh for days on the counter, so it is one that is especially suited to making ahead or enjoying over several days. Especially lovely with a cup of tea.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Dates – no need to use expensive dates here, unless you want to. The standard block of cooking dates in the baking aisle is just fine here. I am also a fan of Medjool dates for this cake. If using Medjool dates, be sure to pit them!

Coconut – You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut here. I usually use sweetened. I do suggest you stick with shredded coconut, as it makes for nice texture and a prettier cake, I think.

Step-by-Step Photos

1. Combine the dates, baking soda and boiling water. Allow to stand until completely cooled to room temperature before starting the cake.
2. Mix up the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
3. Cream together the room temperature butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
4. Beat in the egg.
5. Take a moment to scrape down the bowl.
6. Beat in the vanilla.
7. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternately with the date mixture.
8. Adding the date mixture, with the liquid.
9. The finished batter.
10. The batter added to a greased baking pan and bake about 30 minutes.
11. When cake is almost done, combine the topping ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
12. Pour topping over the warm, baked cake and broil until golden.

Recipe Video

Recipe Tips

• Chopping sticky dates is no fun, but it is necessary to ensure that the dates will soften in the boiling water. Chop them as finely as you prefer, depending on how much of the dates you want to see in your cake. Some people find it easier to cut up the dates with kitchen scissors, rather than a knife.
• If you’d like to lift your cake out in one piece (onto a serving plate, for example, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. You don’t want to have any parchment extending beyond the sides of the cake, as you will be broiling the top and it could, of course, start on fire!
• When it comes time to broil your topping, don’t wander off. It only takes a couple of minutes and can go from golden to burnt in an instant. Watch it like a hawk! If your broiler has both a Hi and Lo setting, I like to use the Lo setting for better control of the heat.
• No 9-inch square pan? You can bake this one in a 10-inch round pan instead (most likely springform, at that size).

Making ahead, Storing and Freezing

You can easily make this cake ahead, as it keeps really well on the counter for several days.

This cake will also freeze well up to 2 months.

Top Tip

The date and boiling water mixture that starts this cake needs to cool to room temperature before adding to the cake, so account for that extra time (it usually cools in about 30 minutes). I don’t even start preparing the cake until the dates are cooled.