How to Make Almond Stuffed Dates

Equipment:

• 2 Bowls
• Wooden spoon
• A small box, jar or biscuit tin

Ingredients:

• 10 to 12 medjool dates
• 200g ground almonds (you can grind your own in a blender)
• 30g sugar or 2 tbsp honey
• Zest of one orange
• ½ tsp orange blossom water
• ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
• Different food colouring or flavours

Method:

1. Prepare the Dates:

• Wipe the dates clean with a clean tea towel and a bit of orange blossom or coconut oil to give them a shine.
• You can use any whole dates but Medjool dates are preferable as they are bigger and have enough depth for the filling. You can buy them ready pitted or pit them yourself by making a slit and removing the date pits. Be careful not to cut all the way through.

2. Prepare the almond paste:

• Put the 200g of ground almonds in a bowl and add the sugar or honey and orange zest.
• Add the orange blossom water. If you have the concentrated version, make sure to add only 2 drops.
• Add the cinnamon if using, followed by the food colouring or your favourite flavours. (pistachio and lemon zest work well)
• If you would like different flavours, split the almond paste equally in different bowls before adding your preferred flavours.

3. Stuff the Dates:

• Carefully stuff the dates with the almond filling.
• Once you stuff the dates, you can leave them as they are or dip them in different decorations.
• Use your own creativity and imagination to make them stand out for gifting.
• Slightly overfill the dates so that the filling peeks out a bit.