I followed the recipe exactly, even to the extent of using the dreaded milk chocolate, except I baked in a fractionally larger tin. The resulting bars were still thick and gooey so I don't think it made a lot of difference. As there were no instructions in the recipe, I cut the tray-bake into 16 squares while still warm, but cooled completely in the tin before removing.
Using only a little cocoa and milk chocolate, rather than plain, allowed the flavour of the dates to come through properly. Together, the orange flavoured dates, hazelnuts and chocolate made a very pleasing combination, with the gooeyness of the dates offsetting the crispness of the crumble topping. My only worry is that the shortcrust base and topping will soften in storage, as the date layer is so soft, meaning this needed to be eaten fresh - only time in the cake tin will tell.
Using both hazelnuts and chocolate this could have been my entry for this month's 'We Should Cocoa' challenge, but I want to make something where the flavour of the hazelnuts is more dominant, so instead I will dedicate this post to National Chocolate Week!
5 comments:
I thought that recipe looked wonderful! Glad it tastes good too.
Love it! I love dates; can't stay away from them, and paired with chocolate it would be a real real treat.
This looks so delicious. I've just been given a whole some milk chocolate for cooks to review, so might make this.
As soon as I saw the hazelnuts mentioned I though - ahah, we should cocoa, but I was wrong. So can still look forward to seeing what you come up with for that.
And how well did these store Suelle? Am thinking of making these for our Christmas Day picnic on the beach, but will need to make well in advance?
From what I recall, they were fine for at least 4 days - most of the stuff I make has to keep that long! I don't see why they wouldn't last longer, althpough wet fruit mixes are always a bit riskier than drier cakes and bars. I think they would freeze well, if that helps.
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