These are very moist and the dates give them plenty of sweetness. If you prefer your cakes super-sweet, you may need to add some sugar or sweetener, but I think they’re fine as they are. As a bonus, these are wheat and gluten-free – as long as you use a gluten-free baking powder.

Makes 12

8 large fresh dates, pitted and chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and grated
½ cup quark
2 eggs
¼ cup macadamia oil
200g unsweetened apple puree (I use baby food)
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup buckwheat flour
¾ cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
30g vanilla whey powder
Walnut pieces

Combine quark, eggs, oil, apple puree and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until very smooth. Sift flours, baking powder, whey and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir grated apple and chopped dates through, making sure they’re well mixed. Add quark mixture and blend through with a wooden spoon.

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cups, top each with a few walnut pieces and bake at 160C fan forced for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.

If you can’t find quark, creamed cottage cheese will do the job.