Date Cupcakes

I have been trying to get my family to snack with more nutrition impact. I bought assorted nuts and dry fruits like figs and dates. The nuts and figs disappeared quickly but the dates were sitting too long in their glass bottles. So I decided to give them a makeover and it was a big hit.
The best part is that the recipe has only one tablespoon of fat. I found that too hard to believe and unnecessarily increased it to 2 tablespoons. The cake is very moist and yummy despite being low fat. 

Date Cake Recipe
Adapted from Sunshine Recipes
This recipe yields 1 loaf or 20 cupcakes or an 8" x 8" square cake. 
Ingredients
Dates - 1 to 1 1/2 cups
Boiling Water - 1 cup
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Vegetable oil or Butter - 1 tbsp 
Egg - 1
Milk - 1/4 cup
Flour - 1 1/3 cup.You could use wholewheat flour, multigrain or a mix of these and all purpose flour to increase the nutrition factor.

Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Chopped Walnuts -  3/4 cups
Topping
Sour Cream - 1/2 cup
Dates - 1 cup
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Boil the sour cream and brown sugar together for about 10 minutes on low heat. Add the dates and boil for 5 more minutes. Cool and spread on the date cake.
Method

Pre-heat oven to 350F or 175C. Chop the dates and soak the them in the boiling hot water. The dates will soon become soft and mushy. In a large bowl mix powdered sugar and oil. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Add the dates and stir in the nuts. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so check if the cake is done - poke with a knife and see if it comes out clean. Keep a few minutes longer if required. Cool the cake and enjoy. If you want to make it extra special spread the cake with the topping.