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Stuffed Dates

Dates filled with nuts or fondant, then rolled in sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Stuffed Dates

Why it works: Almond and walnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 993 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Stuffed Dates

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the dates.

  2. Cut the dates lengthwise to remove the pit without breaking them.

Fill and finish

  1. Fill the center with whole or chopped almonds, peanuts, English walnuts, or flavored fondant.

  2. Press the edges together after filling.

  3. Roll the stuffed dates in powdered or granulated sugar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Almond + walnuttop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together993 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Almond + peanuttop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together305 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).

  3. Peanut + walnuttop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together241 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Dates + almondtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together217 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Dates + walnuttop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together302 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dates
Serve as the soft, sweet shell that holds the filling.
Flavored fondant
Adds sweetness and a smooth, soft texture inside the date.
Powdered sugar or granulated sugar
Forms a dry sweet coating that keeps the stuffed dates from sticking.

The step that matters

Press the edges together after filling. If the date is not sealed, the filling can slip out and the piece loses its shape. Pressing the cut edges back together holds the filling in place while the date stays soft and sticky.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, peanut, walnut, sugar):

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, peanut, walnut, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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