Date Caramels
A basic recipe, to tart up
Hello my kitchen fireflies!
This coming Saturday is Valentine’s Day, a time to make yourself something fabulous and shower love and attention upon your very own self. To me, with love from me. Yep.
These wholefood caramels are vitally important in my life, in order to survive this ludicrously demanding world we live in. Besides, I’m a nicer person when I’m doped up on them.
Add a signature addition, e.g. miso paste, peanuts, freeze-dried strawberry powder, black sesame seeds, chai spice, pistachios, rose petals, rose water, even whiskey! The recipe below is the fail-proof basic version, ready to be curated by your wildest desires.
What is wholefood caramel?
Instead of boring white sugar, we use fudgy dates. Dunnes Stores now do a variety of fresh date in their fruit n’ vegetable aisle, in boxes by Yogi & Yousef. They are outrageously tasty. If you can’t find fresh dates, then medjools in Tesco and SuperValu are recommended, with their toffee notes and hypnotic sweetness.
In place of conventional butter or dairy, we are funneling protein-rich cashew nuts into our caramel frenzy. The result is at once satisfying and silky, lifted by the lemon and sea salt. Yup. Date caramels are so fine that they’ll have you reciting poetry in no time.
AND! Luckily for us, Mother Nature gave the cacao bean heart-healthy flavanols plus magnesium. Both nutrients are loyal friends of the cardiovascular system, helping blood-flow and circulation.
In fact, I believe the smell alone of chocolate can send a feline’s pulse into frenzy, making this recipe the perfect companion to Valentine’s Day. Just saying.
The endorsement of “chocolate” comes with a very big qualification however. It must be raw or dark. Untreated, raw cacao is the nutritional heavyweight champion of chocolate. But dark choc is fairly fabulous too, indecently rich and muscular. Anything else is disqualified, especially the white or milk varieties. Commercial everyday bars rely upon nasty fats, sugars and artificial additives to make them palatable. They imitate chocolate, and only succeed as cheap imposters.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Oscar Wilde, in the midst of this crazy chaotic world we live in…
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”
Love, light, and real dates,
Susan Jane
x
// Date Caramels//
Makes about 18
20 sticky juicy dates (e.g. deglet noor, medjool, or fresh dates)
4 heaped tablespoons cashew nut butter
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Smattering of flaky sea salt
A little hot tea or water
100g dark chocolate, melted
Dried rose petals, raspberry powder, or flaky sea salt (to dust)
Step 1
Start by removing the inner stones from each date, and discarding the stones in the compost. Pop the date flesh into the bowl of your food processor.
(If you’re using very dried dates, or parched dates, then cover them in hot boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain, and transfer the hot dates to your food processor).
Step 2
Add the cashew butter. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the dates too, and sprinkle in some flaky sea salt. Turn on the motor.
While the mixture whizzes, pour 2-4 tablespoons of freshly boiled water down the chute into the food processor bowl. This will help the mixture whip into a lusciously smooth caramel. How much water you pour will ultimately depend on the brand of nutbutter you are using. It’s best to start slowly, and determine how many tablespoons of water are required. Two tablespoons is generally the sweet spot.
Step 3
Taste, and decide if it’s ready to roll. Adjust the salt and lemon, if not.
Step 4
Then, using two teaspoons and a lot of patience, scoop the mixture into beautiful little bonbons and drop on a lined tray to freeze until set.
Step 5
Once they are frozen, you can roll them into smooth balls between your palms, and collect them in a freezer bag.
As soon as you have collected all the gorgeous date caramels, briefly and briskly tumble each one into the melted chocolate, directly from their frozen state. I find a fork handy for this step. Let the chocolate coated caramels set in the freezer once again, on non-stick parchment, before popping back into your reusable freezer bag. If you want, you can dust each one with rose petals or extra flaky sea salt.
Store them in the freezer, ready to plunder at will.
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