The recipe for Philly Frosting would work nicely on the top of this cake. It seems like it could be dry or not have a lot of flavoring because it is literally dates & nuts together. Often you see cinnamon or other spices in a date cake. This is going to be a white cake with dates & nuts. For the flavoring, I recommend vanilla. I’m going to rewrite the method down below because it’s a bit confusing as written.

Date & Nut Cake

1 pkg dates (10 oz)

1 tsp soda

1 cup boiling water

4 tablespoon shortening

cup sugar

1 2/3 flour

1 egg well beaten

1/2 teas salt

1 tsp flavoring (vanilla)

1/2 cup nut meats

Pit a quarter dates, add soda and pour over this the boiling water, let cool, cream shortening, add the sugar gradually, and continue creaming until well blended. Add the well beaten egg. Sift flour once before measuring. Sift flour & salt together and add alternating with date mixture. Add the flavoring & nuts. Pour into well greased & floured pan & bake 40 min 350 F. 9″ square tin.

Pit a quarter of the dates (2 1/2 oz) and chop them in chunks. Put into a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle the baking soda over them, then pour the boiling water of all. While this is cooling, cream the shortening and add the sugar gradually. Cream until well blended. Add the well-beaten egg. Sift the flour and salt together. Add this to the shortening mixture alternately with the dates. Add in the vanilla & nuts, blend until well combined but do not over mix. Spray a 9″ square pan with baking spray. Pour in mixture. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Check with a toothpick before removing from oven.