Chocolate Covered Stuffed Medjool Dates
April 22, 2020
Like most Americans right now, I’m following the guidelines of my state and federal governments’ orders for battling the global Covid-19 pandemic.
As I understand it, we all need to stay home and eat chocolate! (Didn’t I read that somewhere – especially the part about eating chocolate!?) Chocolate is comfort food in times of stress. And if eaten moderately with a 70% or higher cacao content, it’s good for the body as well as the soul.
Since my penchant for dark chocolate and stress levels are at an all-time high, I feel the need to share what I’m eating in case you all want to join me. I’ll include a link so you can order some.
I find that while I take a break to eat my chocolate, I slow down and really concentrate on the flavors, the texture and the soothing feelings that come with it. I imagine the farmers that harvest the cacao, the chocolatiers that make the finished product, and the suppliers and truckers that ship it to right places – all amid this dangerous outbreak – to bring me a moment of peace and well-being. I don’t have words for all the gratitude I feel.
What I would love to write about are my favorite freshly made truffles and bon bons from my favorite chocolate shops. Sadly, those shops are closed now and are not able to offer curbside pick up or delivery. When this is over, I pray these shops will re-open and customers with pent up cravings for hand-made artisan chocolates will help them recover and carry on. I’ll surely do my part!
Right before “safer at home” and social distancing became necessary, my husband and I were on vacation in Arizona visiting friends and family. Making the most of a very rainy day (go figure, pouring rain in the sunniest state in our Union) we drove in search of something fun to do that included tasty treats.
We ended up at Imperial Date Gardens, home to a Medjool date farm not far from Yuma, AZ. We had to have a “date shake,” a well-known regional favorite. A date shake is a vanilla soft serve milk shake with bit of dates mixed in. As delicious as a date shake is, the real treat in my opinion is the chocolate covered stuffed Medjool date, especially when it’s stuffed with walnuts, pecans, or almonds!
Dates are the fruit of the Date Palm tree. The date made it to the Americas by Spanish missionaries. They planted date seeds around their missions during the late 1700 and early 1800s.
Descendants of these original palms can still be found in Southern California. Although there are several varieties of dates, the Medjool date is the “gourmet” variety.
The Medjool, originally from Morocco, was brought into the US in the late 1920s. The story goes that of the eleven original shoots (placed in quarantine for seven years), nine of them survived. Some of their off shoots landed in the Bard Valley, California.
The combination of chocolate, dates, and nuts is amazing. I know some people are not fans of fruit and chocolate, but the natural terroir of most chocolate contains fruity notes that blend so well with dried and candied fruits (as well as ripe berries and citrus).
You can see the ones I tasted here: https://www.imperialdategardens.com/product/chocolate-covered-medjool-dates, though keep in mind these are seasonal and may be out of stock by the time you read this. But I encourage you to try them when you can because they are truly delicious.
You can always make your own chocolate covered dates too. Here are some general steps:
- Use about 25 large dates and about 50 almonds, walnut, or pecan halves. Insert 2 almonds, or 2 walnut or pecan halves in every date. Set aside on parchment paper.
- Melt 8 oz. of your favorite dark or milk chocolate (70-85% preferred) in small saucepan over low heat on the stove or in 30 second bursts in the microwave. Stir constantly and be careful not to burn.
- Temper the chocolate. If you don’t know how to temper chocolate click here for tempering instructions, or “cheat” and pour in a little coconut oil – not more than a tablespoon.
- Dip each stuffed date into chocolate until covered and deposit on the parchment paper to dry. If using coconut oil, place in the fridge 15 minutes to set the chocolate.
If you want another option, I found these chocolate covered dates stuffed with California almonds available on Amazon.
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Hey Bryn, liked the way you explained everything in detail before getting straight into the recipe. It was brisk and simple to try at home.
Nice post!