Happy Tuesday beautiful chefs!
As i've mentioned before us sephardic jews love to stuff everything and dates are no exception.
I made this dessert a while ago I don't know how i missed posting it on my blog.
This is a delicious healthy treat and ideal for the people from my tribe that celebrate passover, which is around the corner. This is also ideal vegan treat and I LOVE vegan food. It’s easy for me to love vegan food because I love fruit, vegetables, and nuts. I love them fresh, raw, cooked, baked, or stewed. Vegan dessert on the other hand is a different story. I just love my dairy, whether it be in the form of ice-cream, cream, milk chocolate, pastries or in cakes. But as I get older, dairy doesn’t seem to like me like it used to. So I’ve decided to take a break from dairy and give vegan dessert a go this week. I drew inspiration from my childhood, growing up in Israel, dates were a staple on our dessert table right next to the gareenim, (sunflower seeds) we used to eat them stuffed with roasted almonds. I remember sucking the date as if it were a lolly (yes, they are that sweet), savouring the sugary caramely flavour and letting it melt in my mouth.
Once I got that taste on my tongue I decided to experiment with making stuffed dates. I chose to use a variety of nuts: hazel, almond, pecan, pistachio and walnut. I also wanted to introduce another flavour and what better then mezher, (orange blossom water or rose water). I had to remind myself to keep it simple, because there were so many other variations I wanted to try, but i managed to restrain myself. This very simple and really delicious, healthy, dessert that everyone devoured was gone in seconds.
So easy to make you don’t even need a recipe really, just look at the photos: they give it away.
The only one that needs a list of ingredients is the coconut stuffed date, I quote "OMG that was out of this world, another level" I didn’t get a chance to eat it because it was gone before I got to taste it. But if it’s better then nut-stuffed dates, then it must have been bloody good, because let me tell you, the combination of dates and whole roasted nuts was divine.
Ingredients
500g medjool dates (it was not enough for my lot, it was gone in minutes)
A variety of nuts or one kind whatever you prefer, I used a variety.
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1-2 teaspoon rose water OR orange blossom water (I prefer orange blossom)
Method
To make syrup: Combine the water and sugar in a medium-size saucepan. Bring to a bubbling simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, for 7 min stirring occasionally (the liquid will thicken slightly). Remove from the heat. Stir in the rose water or Orange blossom water.
Let cool slightly, then pour into a glass jar. This syrup will remain fresh in a jar in the refrigerator for months.
Stir 4-5 teaspoons of syrup into coconut cup and using your hands feel if consistency is firm enough for you to mould. If coconut isn’t sticking together then just add syrup, but only a teaspoon at a time.
Use a knife to make a lengthwise slit into the dates, then remove the pits.
Stuff each date with three of the following nuts: hazel nuts ,almond and pistachio nuts. Use two halves of a walnut and pecans to make one, and put inside the date.
Using your fingers, fill the date with the coconut and syrup mixture.
Place on a serving dish and enjoy.