Dates Stuffed With Hazelnuts and Chocolate
"This recipe from chef Matthew Pope of Zelda's Sweet Shoppe in Skokie makes a perfect "new fruit" dish for the second night of Rosh Hashanah. Tradition calls for eating seasonal fruits during the Jewish new year. But, as the old commercial said, you don't have to be Jewish to love these. You will have extra hazelnut paste, if you have been able to resist eating it while you stuff the dates."
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Yields:
-
30 stuffed dates
ingredients
- 1⁄3 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped
- 1⁄2 cup bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 30 dates, fresh
-
For the Hazelnut Paste
- 1 3⁄4 cups chopped hazelnuts
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon hazelnut-flavored liqueur (optional)
directions
- First, make the hazel nut paste by combining the 1 3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, egg whites, confectioners' sugar and hazelnut liqueur (optional) in a food processor to form a paste (Mixture can be refrigerated, covered, up to 2 weeks).
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet; toast in oven until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes, watching closely so they don't burn. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, slice each date on one side to form a pocket; set aside.
- Mix 1/3 cup hazelnut paste and chocolate in a bowl; spoon the hazelnut/chocolate mixture into each date. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts over the filling.
- Serve or refrigerate up to 1 week.
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Reviews
-
I love sweets made with nuts and fruits and these dates and the hazelnut paste that goes in them! I did not have the liqueur, but substituted some orange blossom water, which I think went very well along. In fact, I did not have egg white either, so I just used orange blossom water for the liquid in the paste, and it still was perfect consistency and flavor.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Chef Kate
Annapolis, 60
<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
