dates – Page 2 – Sweet Tooth Experiments

Green Smoothie Chocolate Cake

Posted on October 7, 2017 Posted in Cakes .

Green Smoothie Chocolate Cake

Green Smoothie Chocolate Cake recipe

Don’t get scared, hold on and stay with me for 1 minute, I can guarantee this cake will taste only of chocolate, you will not taste a gram of green or healthiness in this cake.

The name of this recipe says it all, I have taken key ingredients that you usually find in green smoothies that provide a pleather of varying health benefits and turned them into a cake. In fact, 12/16 of the ingredients in this cake are well known for their health benefits.

Don’t believe you can eat a nutritious cake and thoroughly enjoy it? The below is an example of a few ingredients that provides exactly that:

Zucchini – vitamin C & A, protein, fiber, potassium & folate
Spinach – vitamins A, B2, C and K, magnesium, manganese, folate, iron, calcium & potassium
Dates – iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorous & magnesium
Cocoa – lower blood pressure, improve blood flow & 3x the antioxidants than a cup of green tea
Cinnamon – lowers blood sugar and reduce heart disease risk factors
Ginger and Turmeric – anti-inflammatory qualities
Oatmeal – controls blood sugars, high in fiber and drops bad cholesterol
Avocado – vitamin C & E

Ingredients:

Cake batter:

265g zucchini
65g spinach
65g dates
240ml almond milk
65g cocoa powder
¼ tsn ground cinnamon
1/4 tsn ground ginger
Pinch turmeric
165g butter
240g sugar
4 eggs
30g oatmeal
175g self-raising flour

Icing:

1 large avocado (190g flesh)
60g dates
80ml honey
1 tsn vanilla essence
30g cocoa powder

Extra:

35g dates, diced

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 25cm cake tins with baking paper.
Grate the zucchini into a bowl and squeeze out 65ml of the zucchini liquid.
Place in a food processor the spinach, dates and 120ml of the almond milk, blitz until smooth.
Add the remaining 120ml of almond milk along with the cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric to the food processor. Blitz until smooth and well combine, add to the zucchini and stir to combine.
Using electric beaters whisk the butter for 3 minutes or until pale in colour.
Add the sugar to the butter and beat for 5 minutes until fluffy and light.
Add the eggs, one at a time beating for at least 1 minute between each addition (mix should be light, pale and fluffy).
Pour the oatmeal into the butter mix and sieve the self-raising flour into the mix.
Add the almond milk wet mix and whisk with electric beaters on low until just combine.
Spoon the mix evenly into the 2 prepared cake tins.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
Leave the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack until cold.
Meanwhile, make the icing by placing the avocado, dates, vanilla and honey into a food processor and blitz until well combine and smooth.
Add the cocoa powder to the avocado mix and blitz until smooth and well combine.
Place 1 cake onto a plate, top with 1/3rd of the icing.
Add the 2^nd cake on top and use the remaining icing on the top and sides of the cake, scatter with the additional dates for decoration, enjoy.

NOTE: For additional decoration only I have picked a few flowers for the garden and arranged on top of the cake.

Green Smoothie Chocolate Cake recipe

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Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes

Posted on September 23, 2017 Posted in Cupcakes .

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes

This recipe was designed specifically to challenge me. I’m not a fan of parsnip at all, however as I have baked with almost every other root vegetable I decided to really push my taste buds to not only come up with a Parsnip based recipe but a recipe that is super tasty.

I am so surprised at how good this recipe is, who would have though such a tasty cupcake treat could come from one of my least favorite vegetables.

The spice combos with dates, honey, walnuts and orange took a bit of tweaking I won’t lie, but it was well worth the experimenting to get it right!

Ingredients:

Cupcake batter:

180g self-raising flour
1 + ½ tsn baking powder
120g brown sugar
1 + ½ tsn ground ginger
1 + ½ tsn ground cinnamon
¼ tsn salt
1/3rd tsn ground nutmeg
1/3^rd tsn mixed ground spice
80g dried dates
60g walnuts
180g parsnip
3 tsn orange zest
3 eggs
120g vegetable oil
70ml honey
1 tsn vanilla essence

Frosting:

300g cream cheese, softened
70g butter, softened
1 tsn orange zest
100g icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175c degrees and line a cupcake tin with 12 patty cases.
Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and mixed spice into a bowl and stir until well combined.
Dice the dates and walnuts into small pieces and add to the flour mix, stir.
Grate the parsnip into the flour mix as well as the orange zest, stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with electric beaters until light and fluffy.
Add the oil, honey and vanilla to the egg mix and beat for 4 minutes, until well combine and bubbly.
Evenly spoon the batter into the patty cases.
Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave for cupcakes for 5 minutes before placing on a cooling rack until cold.
Meanwhile make the icing by placing the softened cream cheese, softened butter, orange zest and icing sugar into a bowl.
Using electric beaters whisk until fluffy and well combine.
Place the icing into a piping bag fit with a star noddle and pipe the icing on top of the cupcakes.
Enjoy!

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Dried Date Fig and Honey Bread

Posted on April 1, 2017 Posted in Bread .

Dried Date Fig and Honey Bread

After having some dried figs left over from my Fig and Grape Syrup cake and dates from my Date Spiced Syrup Doughnuts I decided to come up with a recipe that would utilize these two ingredients.

After doing quite a bit of baking with dried fruit in cakes, puddings and pies recently I wanted to step away and bake with dried fruit in a different way.

I have also been baking a lot with dough in the past few weeks and though not an expert I felt I had the confidence to take on bread making.

My favorite bread is raisin toast so I thought I would put my spin on fruit bread and make a gourmet fig and date version.

This bread warmed, with a spread of butter is pure magic tasting!

Ingredients:

400g white bread flour
½ tsn yeast
2 tbsn honey
100g dried figs
100g dried dates
1 tsn salt
½ tsn cinnamon
20g almonds
1 tbsn olive oil
Pinch of ground ginger

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200c degrees and line a baking tray with oiled baking paper.
Dice up the dates, figs and almonds.
Mix the flour, yeast, honey, salt, cinnamon, almonds, dried dates and figs in a bowl.
Place the olive oil and 280ml warm water in a separate bowl.
Mix the water in the dry ingredient bowl and once combine knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Oil the bowl and place the dough back in the bowl, covering with cling wrap to prove for 1-2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.
Push-back the dough by kneading for 2 minutes, shape into a load shape and allow to prove again for 1 hour on the tray covered with cling wrap.
Once proved slash a cross on the top of the loaf and dust with a pinch of flour and ground ginger.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
Allow to cool then slice and spread with butter, enjoy!

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Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake

Posted on March 11, 2017 Posted in Cakes .

Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake

This cake is actually a massive fluke. Originally I wanted to make a creamy soda cake and planned to use my Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake recipe and substitute the cola for creamy soda.

After I made this cake I soon realised that the creamy soda taste is so subtitle that it just tastes like a plan vanilla cake. As I was in the baking mood I then decided that this was a flop and I would make a new cake.

I still wanted to do a drink based cake so I took inspiration from the night before – Saturday nights drinks.

A friend was drinking spiced rum with ginger beer – so I thought of still using the coca-cola recipe as the base but replacing the cola with spiced Rum and added ground ginger to the mix. This though was still a little ordinary, therefore to add another layer I made ginger rum banana filling and topped the cake with some chopped dates. I figured the dates could play the same role as raisins do in the ‘rum & raisin’ combo. Additionally banana works well with ginger and rum so if could be a good inclusion.

Outcome – this cake hits the spot!

Ingredients:

Cake:

260g self raising flour
300g brown sugar
¼ tsn salt
1 tsn ground ginger
1 egg
125ml milk
1 tsn vanilla
125g butter
180ml rum

Filling:

300g banana (3 banana’s)
60ml butter
1 tbsn rum
1 tsn ground ginger

Icing:

1 + 1/2 cup icing sugar
150g cream cheese
75g butter
2 tsn rum
1 tsn ground ginger

Extra:

150g dates, diced.

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 23cm cake tin with baking paper.
Place the flour, sugar, salt and ginger into a bowl and stir until well combined.
Place the egg, milk and vanilla into a bowl and using electric beaters beat until light and fluffy.
Place the butter and rum into a saucepan and heat on low until the butter is melted, take off the heat.
Stir the egg mix into the dry mix until well combined.
Add the rum mix and beat with electric beaters until smooth.
Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Place on a cooling rack until cold.
Meanwhile to make the filling mash the bananas until smooth (if lumpy pass through a sieve).
Place the filling ingredients into a saucepan and stir on a medium heat until well combine and the bananas have absorbed the other ingredients. Set aside.
To make the icing place all the ingredients into a bowl and using electric beaters whisk until smooth and creamy, set aside.
Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread the banana mix evenly on the top of one cake layer.
Place the second layer onto the banana mix.
Spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake.
Top with diced dates and serve.

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Pumpkin Date Maple Bread

Posted on May 19, 2015 Posted in Bread .

Pumpkin Date Maple Bread

This next recipe was an idea that came from combining banana bread and pumpkin cake to make a pumpkin bread, however I put an interesting twist on this.

Instead of using pureed pumpkin I have opted for something a little different by using pumpkin soup.

Yes this does sound weird…most of my recipe do, however this bread sliced and toasted with butter is sooo moreish, it will have you saying banana bread what?

The soup makes the texture extra smooth and is cuts out the process or baking and blitzing up fresh pumpkin.

The maple syrup, nuts and dates works magic with the palate of pumpkin.

Ingredients:

260g cream of pumpkin soup
120g brown sugar
2 eggs
40g butter
120ml maple syrup
80g dates
130g walnuts
180g self raising flour
270g flour
1 tsn mixed spice
½ tsn group cinnamon
½ tsn ground nutmeg
½ tsn ground ginger
10g oats

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a 21cm x 10cm loaf tin with baking paper.
Using electric beaters whisk the soup, sugar, eggs, melted butter and maple syrup in a bowl for 3 minutes until creamy and smooth.
Place the dates in a food processor and blitz until diced.
Place the walnuts in a food processor and blitz until diced.
Place the dates, 100g of the walnuts, the flours and spices in the mix and whisk until well combine.
Pour the mix into the tin and top with the remaining 30g of walnuts as well as the 10g of oats.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Rest in the tin for 5 minutes before placing on a cooking rack.
Once cooled sprinkle extra maple syrup over the top, cut unto slices and serve with butter.

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Maamool

Posted on July 28, 2014 Posted in Arabic, Traditional .

Maamool

In my constant exploring and investigating for amazing worldly sweet treats I came across the Maamool biscuit (or Ma’amoul). These biscuits are Arabic traditional small shortbread pastries filled with dates or nuts.

As they are popular in so many courtiers (etc Lebanon, the Middle East and North Arica) you can imagine there are many varying recipes, particularly when it comes to the actually biscuit (cookie) dough. So I started comparing and researching recipes until I identified a few that seems to be quite consistent in ingredients and methods.

These biscuits are not my usual sweet treat fix as they are not very sweet but the fact they are predominately used for religious festivals was very interesting to me. Muslims eat these treats during holidays, and Arabic-speaking Christians eat them at Easter. So to have this much importance to cultures made me really keen to make them myself.

In my option below is the easiest and tastiest biscuit recipe (which I’ve adapted) and 2 filling options (also adapted), though the date one is by far the tastier.

Ingredients:

Biscuit dough:

4.5 cups fine semolina
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups butter, melted
4 tsp orange blossom water
4 tsp rose water
1/4 water

Date Filling:

2 cup chopped pitted dates
1 tbsp butter
2 tsn orange blossom water
2 tsn rose water

Nut Filling

2 cups almond (or walnuts / pistachios)
100g sugar
2 tsn orange blossom water
2 tsn rose water

Method:

Mix all the dough ingredients together in a bowl, massaging with slightly wet hands until the mix is combined well.
Knead for 5 minutes to form a soft ball.
Leave mixture in a bowl covered overnight (or at least 5 hours) to rest. This will allow the semolina to swell and soften up.
After the mix has been left overnight line 2 large baking trays with baking paper and pre-heat the oven to 175c.
If your making the date mix:
1. Prepare the date filling by placing all the ingredients into a saucepan and stir on low until the dates are softened and the ingredients are combining.
2. Place in a food processor and process until the mix is smooth then form into small balls (the size or a 5 cent piece or 15g).
If your making the nut mix:
1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to semi-coarse consistency.
2. Using your hands massage the ingredients together until well combined.
Roll dough into 30g sized balls the size of golf balls.
Stuff the cookies by place your finger in the middle to form a hole in the ball and place the date balls inside / or spoon 15g of the nut mixture inside.
Gently close up dough ball and seal and roll to be a ball again.
1. If you are using the traditional Maamool mold place the ball into the mold and gently pat down to mold. Tap the mold onto a bench to remove the biscuit.
Place Maamool onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until just about to get a little brown.
Once cooled sift icing sugar onto the Maamool.

Notes:

Maamoul’s can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week, in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 weeks or can be frozen for up to 3 months. The airtight container is important as without it they will go dry.
You can also use a metal cookie cutter instead of the mold.
You can flour the mold and tap out excess flour if you are worried about the dough sticking.
You can place a design on the top with a folk if you are not using a mold.
These biscuits don’t rise so 1cm apart if perfectly fine.
If the dough is crumbly you have used too much butter.
If you have used too little butter or you over-bake they will be crunchy and crack.

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Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart

Posted on July 6, 2014 Posted in Tarts .

Avocado, Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart

Creamy and rich chocolate mousse that is scrumptious, made of fruit and is free from sugar, cream and butter…you have to be kidding right? Wait don’t click off this post, its true I promise!

Not only that, this recipe is actually healthy for you, seriously!

To be able to serve this mousse I have also created a pastry tart shell recipe that is also sugar free to keep with the no sugar theme. This is also detailed below:

Ingredients:

Pastry

2 cups flour
½ tsn salt
50g honey
2 tsn cocoa powder
110g butter
1 egg
1 tbsn milk

Mousse

100g pitted dates
2 avocadoes
1 orange
150g honey
55g cocoa powder
½ tsn cinnamon
½ tsn ground cardamom
1/2 ground mixed cloves

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 175c and spray a tart tin with oil.
Place the flour, salt and cocoa powder into a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
Dice the butter into small pieces and process until combined.
Add the egg, honey and milk and process until combined.
Wash hands and turn dough out onto the bench and kneed into a ball onto baking paper.
Using a rolling pin roll the dough into a circle shape and place into the tart tin.
Place the tin into the fridge for 20 mins.
Place the dates into boiling hot water in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
Blind bake the tart shell (place baking paper and rice on top of the tart shell to stop the pastry rising).
Place the tart shell in the oven and cook for 20 mins. remove the rice and bakng paper and bake for further 5 mins or until the pastry sides have browned.
Once the tart is cooled place on a cooling rack until cooled.
To make the mousse place the drained dates, avocado, orange zest, juice, cocoa powder, honey, cinnamon, cardamom and mixed cloves into a food processor and process until smooth and combine.
Spoon the mousse into the cooled tart shell and flatten the top.
Place in the fridge to set for 1 hour minimum.

Notes:

For best results make the day prior and leave overnight in the fridge, letting the mousse really set. This will thicken the texture of the mousse making it hold its shape for much longer, especially when slicing and platting up.
You can decorate with some additional grated orange zest or sift some extra cocoa powder.

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Sweet Tooth Experiments

Tag Archives: dates

Green Smoothie Chocolate Cake

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes

Dried Date Fig and Honey Bread

Rum Banana Ginger and Date Cake

Pumpkin Date Maple Bread

Maamool

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart

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