I have made this for nearly 60 years, using Mother-in-Law's recipe. BUT have you tried to take the end out of the new style soup cans? Impossible as far as I can see.
The pull tab cans are not even easy to open, let alone get the end out of the can. My can opener will NOT remove the end of these cans. Soup cans were the choice because they made a smaller, neater slice. Date/Nut Bread with Cream Cheese was a favorite winter dessert.
June in Cincinnati