Yes, but you want to use smarty code in your template.
http://www.smarty.net/docsv2/en/language.modifier.date.format.tpl
Examples:
Code:
<p>{$smarty.now|date_format:$config.Appearance.date_format}</p>
<p>{$smarty.now|date_format:"%A"}</p>
<p>{$smarty.now|date_format:"%B"}</p>
<p>{$smarty.now|date_format:"%Y"}</p>
Output:
11-04-2013
Monday
November
2013