DATE LOAF.
1 heaped cup of dates.
1/4 lb butter.
1 cup brown sugar.
1 rounded teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda.
1 1/2 cups boiling water. 
Put all of this in a saucepan on a medium flame, stir and bring to the boil. Leave to stand until cool.
Add three cups of flour. If you uses brown flour , uses less. I add half a teaspoon ginger, half a teaspoon cinnamon and three to four Tablespoons of crushed walnuts and raisins. 
Mix carefully and bake in loaf tins that are buttered and floured. Bake at 300 for fifty minutes.
I serve Date Loaf with butter and honey. It is excellent after a day or two. Cool well, before storing.