This date loaf is inspired by a multitude of things. The idea landed while eating a Welsh bara brith, similar to an English tea loaf, where dried fruit is soaked in tea to create a bread loaf that’s then sliced and slathered in butter. I knew then that this would be the perfect template for a cardamom date cake, which I had wanted to include in Lugma somehow. Then there’s the topping, which sets this loaf apart in a very lovely way. The combination of fennel, sesame and nigella seeds is often sprinkled onto khobez hamar, a type of date-based flatbread made in Bahrain but perfected in Al-Ahsa in eastern Saudi Arabia. This really is a special loaf, so easy to make and one that improves with time, so make it a day before you want to serve it if you can. I like to have it drizzled with tahini and date molasses, which is quite rich, so feel free to just spread it with lashings of salted butter.

This recipe is an extract from Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle East by Noor Murad (Quadrille).