• Pre heat oven to 160c and prepare your pans by lining the bottom with baking paper and spraying with cooking oil. I used 2 x 6 inch pans with 3 cups of batter in each (alternatively you could use 2 x 8 inch pans with 3 cups of batter in each or 3 x 8 inch pans with 2 cups of batter in each).
• Pit your dates and roughly chop them, measure out 3 cups after chopping.
• Place you dates, water and bicarb soda in a food processor. Make sure all the dates are covered. Leave dates to steep for 10 minutes.
• While waiting for the dates, beat sugar and butter in a mixer on a medium speed until thick and creamy.
• Process date mixture and add to the butter and sugar.
• Beat till the dates are mixed through.
• Add in eggs and vanilla and mix till incorporated.
• Add in flour and beat until just combined.
• Pour your batter into your prepared pans. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. If you're using 8 inch pans, then check your cakes at the 30 minute mark. Put a skewer or thin knife into the cake and make sure there is no wet batter that sticks to it (you may get cooked crumbs, which is fine).
• Leave your cakes to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Place the butter and cream cheese into the bowl of your stand mixer.
• Beat until smooth.
• Add in the icing sugar one cup at a time on a low speed.
• This recipe is for a silkier cream cheese frosting, however if you want it more stiffer you can add a 1/2 - 1 cup more of icing sugar.

Palm Tree made with chocolate

• Print the template and tape a piece of baking paper on top.
• Melt your chocolate and white chocolate in the microwave at 20 second intervals, checking each time until it is completely melted. Add in a a little green candy colouring into the white chocolate until the desired colour is reached. If you're using green candy melts, you can skip the food colouring step.
• Fill 2 piping bags, one for each colour.
• Pipe the trunk, skipping a section in between (this will create more defined lines when you come back to pipe them). Pipe the skipped sections.
• Pipe the palm leaf stem, then move from the stem to the edges of the leaf in back and forth motions to create the frongs.
• Make sure that the leaves overlap the trunk and each other or the leaves or the palm will break easily. (if they do, don't worry, just stick them back with more chocolate)
• Leave aside to set.
• Once set, gently slide a flat knife between the chocolate and baking paper.
• Gently pick up the tree and place it on your cake.

Palm Tree made with frosting

• Colour 3/4 cup of your left over icing with green colouring until desired colour is reached.
• Add cocoa to the other 3/4 cup of leftover icing and mix well.
• Fill the chocolate frosting into a piping bag with a 1cm wide round nozzle or cut the tip off the bag.
• Fill the green frosting into a a piping bag fitted with a leaf nozzle.
• Pipe a dot of chocolate frosting onto the base of the cake, use the back of a spoon or pallet knife to drag the dot upwards, continue till just below the top of the cake.
• Hold your green frosting tip at the top of the tree trunk and start piping with a slight side to side motion, this will add some edging to the leaf.
• Continue piping this all around the cake until you have made all the leaves.
• Best served the same or next day, but can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 week.