Shake it up for Christmas with this date shake.
When we were in Israel it took me a while to realize that the row after row, field after field of palm trees were date palms and produced the Medjool date.
I never realized there was more than one kind of date on the market; some others are Barhi, Deglet Noor, Halawy, Khdraw, Medjool, Thoory and Zahidi. In fact there are over 1,500 varieties of dates grown in the world. The Medjool date is know as the Cadillac of dates and originated in Morocco and I love the size of these dates, just big enough for two good bites.
Did you know that dates are a fresh fruit not a dried fruit? I didn’t. The white stuff you sometimes see on the outside of a date is the natural sugar crystallizing and perfectly fine to eat, so don’t throw away your dates if they are white.
I think any date is really good stuffed with blue cheese, an almond and then wrapped in bacon, and the Medjool date is big enough to hold all of that. The next time you want a date to use in a recipe try Medjool dates and skip the littles ones that come prepackaged.
Some other really good uses for dates would be candy, salads, appetizers, shakes/smoothies, bourbon date sauce over fish or coconut date rice or how about a creme brûlée with dates and of course my mother-in-law’s Date Nut Roll is the best.
I decided to try a date nut shake after a friend from craft circle told me she had one in northern California and it was delicious. And the shake perfect for serving after chili and homemade tamales. What I would do next time would be to use Blue Bell Light Vanilla because I don’t care for really rich ice cream. And I would use low speed on the blender; my Vitamin seems to whip things up too much and also I forgot to add some malt that I was going to try in the shake. (I did that the second time I made this shake.) And the third time I make these will be over Christmas. Can’t wait to see if my kids will like it. (Grown kids, little GK will get plain chocolate malts.)
BLAST FROM THE PAST: I keep reposting my Sugar Plum Cake because it is a perfect cake/dessert to have during the holidays. Try it with some whipped cream or ice cream and you will love it. All my friends who have tried the cake loves it. Don’t let the prunes scare you off; after all, they are just dried plums.
I pureed the dates and milk in my Magic Bullet.
After the dates are chopped very fine refrigerate this until you are ready to make the shakes.
You want to pour the shake into “small” glasses; it is a very rich shake but worth every calorie.
Add a straw and enjoy.
Amaretto Date Shake with My Israeli Dates
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. pitted medjool dates coarsely chopped
- 3/4 c. very cold milk
- 2-3 c. vanilla ice cream
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 c. amaretto liqueur
- 1-2 Tbsp. powdered malt
- Whipped cream for topping optional
- nutmeg or cinnamon for garnish
Instructions
Blend the milk and dates until smooth. Add ice cream, vanilla, malt and amaretto pulse a few times until blended. Blend until smooth and thick. You may need to add more ice cream. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon.
Recipe Notes
*Note you could add half a frozen banana or replace milk with coconut milk.
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