1 cup coconut
4 cups plain flour
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 lb chopped dates
1 lb orange slice candy, cut into 4-5 pieces each

Glaze
2 cups brown sugar
6 or 8 oz can frozen orange juice

Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk and add to the creamed mixture.

Place flour in a separate large bowl and stir in the dates, orange slices, and nuts. Stir to coat each piece. Add flour mixture and coconut to creamed mixture. Mixture will be very thick and hard to stir.

Pour batter into the tube pan. Bake for approximately 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven. Combine the orange juice and brown sugar and and heat in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Pour over hot cake. Let stand in pan overnight.

Invert onto a large cake plate. It doesn't have to be refrigerated but you can if you like.