Orange Date Nut Cake.

I was going through my grandmother's hand-written recipes recently, and ran across this one THREE TIMES. It was obviously important, and a favorite of hers. I don't remember ever eating it, probably because dates were in it. I don't care for dates. Or raisins. Or prunes. Or really any of the dried fruits.

Orange Date Nut Cake

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 small package (unsure of size) dates (or raisins)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 TBSP grated orange zest

Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. Coat pecans & dates in 1/4 cup flour. Sift remaining flour with baking soda and add to butter mixture, alternating with buttermilk. Stir in vanilla, pecans & date mixture, and orange zest and combine well. Bake in a greased & floured tube pan at 350 for 1 hour.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 cups sugar
1 TBSP grated orange zest

Mix together and heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over cake while still in baking pan, poking holes in the cake with a toothpick. Let sit overnight before turning cake out of pan.