Date & Ginger rolls - To Die For

[Catherine Sarah]

Well at least in my humble opinion, that's the case. Although my daughter-in-law-to-be, keeps asking for more of them. After all, how could she be wrong?    

Well as promised from 'Spirituality' here it is.

The following ingredients should make about 3 rolls, depending on how much you put in each roll case.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups chopped dates
1&1/2 cups  chopped ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
90g butter
3&1/2 cups self raising flower
1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tbspn ground ginger
2 tbspn vanilla essense. (The real stuff, not imitation VE)
415ml water (1&3/4 cups)

PREPARATION
1. Melt butter, add sugar, while stiring mixture, add water. Stir on low heat until sugar dissolved. Bring to boil, remove from heat and cool for 5 mins. Whilst cooling add dates, ginger, ground ginger & vanilla essense.

2. Lightly beat eggs in a large bowl, sift mixture of self raising flower and sodi bicarb with liquid mixture, adding date/ginger solids as last.

3. Grease nut roll pans and fill approx 3/4 full (perhaps a shade less) with combined mixture. Cover with lid

4. Bake standing upright in preheated oven (180 C or 160 C fan forced ) for 35 mins. Stand rolls for 10 mins before removing lid

5. Lock all doors and windows, turn off your phone, cancel the bread milk and mail. Tell everyone you are out of town for months. Turn rolls out on to cake cooler, make a hot chocolate or latte, spread sliced rolls with butter and enjoy. (Although the butter is a bit of a naughty. Actually deprives the taste of the ginger & dates combination brought forward by the vanilla essense.)
Remember vanilla essense is to cakes and pastries as salt is to meat/fish etc.

6. Ring Weight Watchers and make appt for next month. Repeat whenever the craving desires.

Let me know if you need US conversions.
Hope you enjoy
Huggs
Catherine 

[Jeneva]

Looks yummy!  Thanks for sharing.  If I didn't already have a loaf of fresh bread cooking now, I'd be tempted to make this for tonight.  We're having pork chops and ginger and dates would be a nice complement.

I LOVE ginger and dates are a nice snack too.  I make us keep them around because I like to snack on them sometimes.  Our kids love them too, but Shannon won't eat them because of the texture.

I agree with your vanilla comment.  I learned from watching my (grand)mother that you always buy the REAL thing (in industrial sized containers it isn't that much more than fake - sure the little bottles are an arm and a leg, but bulk helps)  and "spill" a little extra when measuring it.  It makes such a difference.

Self rising flour AND baking soda?  Hmmm, I'll have to look up conversion for that into plain flour and baking powder/yeast since we only buy plain flour (in 50lb bags ;-)).

[Jamie D]

Catherine, my blood sugar jumped up 20 points just reading that yummy recipe.

I love using dates in recipes

Question, do you prefer large Medjools or smaller Deglet Noors?

Or do you have other local varieties?

[Catherine Sarah]

Hi Jamie,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you.

I prefer the smaller ones myself, however as our supermarket chain get whatever is good on the market at the time of packing, I don't get much choice. If I get the larger one, naturally I cut them up for better consistency.

Hope your blood sugar is back to normal. I'll post a warning next time. 

For a variation, I've substituted figs for dates and it is just as lovely.

Huggs
Catherine