Date Squares revisited

Thanksgiving came and went - thankfully with no real impact to my waistline! It was a good day and evening.  We made the Turkey, vegetables, stuffing etc at my sisters house and then took it over to my moms to enjoy. It might seem like extra work, but it really did minimize any cleanup that had to be done at my mom's house and we spent our time visiting instead of slaving over dirty dishes.

A while ago I made Date Squares from the 1938 Five Roses Flour Cookbook and having no real creative motivation last week...I think I was still in a Turkey coma :)  I decided to remake the date squares using the updated Five Roses Flour recipe, plus I still had leftover dates and no real ideas on what to do with them...and I got a wee bit obsessed on crocheting headbands!

The recipes are pretty much the same with a few modifications that seem to make sense, like the removal of the baking powder and baking soda. I didn't really notice a difference in how they cooked up.

What I did notice was that the date mixture seemed drier and I had to add more water to get it to cook enough to be mushy, and...the newer recipe mentions

"Cook over medium heat until dates are soft and water is absorbed. Add vanilla and let cool."

But no where in the recipe does it mention vanilla as an ingredient, so I didn't add it in.

In the newer cookbook they have the Orange Date filling as a variation of the basic one, so I included both below. I chose the Orange Date filling to make since it more closely resembled the 1938 recipe.

Out of both recipes, I think I prefer the newer variation better. It just seemed more substantial and the bars were less thin. I guess it depends on if you like a thicker date middle, but flavourwise, I don't think there was much difference at all. 


Date Shortbread (Matrimony Cake)
Five Roses Flour Cook Book - 1970? (page 122)

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4  1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2  cups old fashioned oatmeal

• 500 g pitted dates
• 3/4 cup hotwater
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine dry ingredients together
2. Rub in butter with the tips of your fingers
3. Spread half the mixture in a greased shallow pan (about 8 X 14 inches) and pat to make smooth.
4. Cover with cooled Date Filling, spreading it evenly, then cover with remaining crumbs, pat to make smooth.
5. Bake at 375F for 30 - 35 minutes.
6. Increase heat slightly and bake for a few minutes longer to lightly brown the mixture.
7. Cut in squares while warm and allow the shortbread to cool in the pan.

VARIATION
Orange Date Filling
Five Roses Flour Cook Book - 1970? (page 122)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 lb  1 lb chopped dates (500 g)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tbsp 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Grated rind of 1/2 orange
• 2 tbsp 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook dates, water, orange rind, and sugar in a small saucepan, over a moderate heat until thick and smooth
2. Remove from heat and let cool

Moms Swirl Squares

I'm not sure if I've ever had these before, I mean I think I have, but I don't think I've had this particular recipe or even had Swirl Squares that my mom might have made, but... she has it handwritten down in her scribbler, so it was worth trying :)

Going in to making these, I had no clue what they would turn out like. But after seeing them out of the oven, these are chocolate chip cookies baked in a pan ...and a lot easier to make!

I added a 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 cup of butter to the mixer and let it go while I got the flour, baking soda, and salt ready.

Once the sugar, butter, and egg mixture was mixed well, I stirred in the flour mixture and then the nuts. I was expecting a batter, but it was really thick. I was really thinking I did something wrong. I checked online for other recipes to see if I was missing a liquid, but I wasn't.  So don't be surprised when it's like a cookie dough!

I pressed it down in to a greased baking pan and dropped the square baking chunks that I had leftover on to the top.  The recipe says to bake for 1 -2 minutes to melt them, but I went for 4 minutes before taking them out of the oven.

Even at 4 minutes they weren't completely melted, but I did my swirling with the knife anyways. I have to say I was a bit concerned with the thickness of the dough and swirling the chocolate through it. I really felt like it would stay all mangled looking and not soften or even out!

I was happy when it came out of the oven looking half decent! But would it be dry and crunchy like toast or grainy or or or... my experience with marbled or swirled desserts has been mostly limited to cake or cheesecake, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out it was basically a giant square cookie.

I had frozen the leftover Nutella Frosting that I used on the Fudge Four O'Clocks, so after a bit of defrosting, I used it on the Swirl Squares.  YUM!

Notes on the recipe:

My mom's recipe has a bit of a glitch in it. She's got an additional measure that isn't tied to anything.

3/4 cup   1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar

But, it seems like her recipe is half of a Five Roses recipe, somewhat. The Five roses calls for 1 cup brown sugar CHECK! 1/2 cup of white sugar...WAIT! That doesn't add up, but if I cut it in half it's 1/4 cup and if I add it to the half of brown sugar then it equals the 3/4 cup...hrmm..what to do?... I really do think this is the Five Roses recipe from online.

I decided on the 1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup white. It doesn't seem overly sweet to me, but try it out for yourself :)

Swirl Squares
The recipe and instructions are how she wrote it out.
 
INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 3/4 cup   1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 1/8 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl measure butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg. 
2. Beat until blended
3. Stir in flour, soda, salt, and nuts
4. Spread in a 9X9 inch greased pan
5. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top
6. Bake 375 F for 1 - 2 minutes until chocolate chips are soft enough to marble.
7. Run knife through batter
8. Bake 20 minutes more.

Fudge Four O'Clocks with Nutella Frosting

Sorry!

I've been slacking a bit. Back from visiting family and then back to work.  I pulled out the blanket I'm crocheting and tried to learn a few new stitches. I admit, I've been obsessed with crafting lately, it's creative like cooking and baking, but without the calories! Lets not talk about the 5 new quilts I've planned on making...and I've never quilted before!  Should be fun...but on to the baking...Fudge Four O'Clocks, it sounds like something Audrey Hepburn would have in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I was going to make Brownies from the Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cook Book, but the recipe for the Brownies is almost the same as the one for Fudge Four O'Clocks, and well, the Four O'Clocks have frosting!. I could also argue that the deciding factor was the 1950's picture...and the fact that I had a jar of Nutella in my cupboard just waiting for something chocolatey to be put upon :)

The recipe is quite simple with not a lot of ingredients, which I love. I think improvements on this recipe would be with the type of chocolate one uses. I just used some no name semi-sweet chocolate chunks that I had, nothing special, but it was still yummy. So better chocolate would make this even more wonderful!

Once you've gathered together your ingredients and have melted the chocolate, pour it over the shortening.

And stir until blended well. It wasn't blended smoothly, most likely because the chocolate was only moderately warm, so I heated it for a few seconds in the microwave. Viola!

Beat the eggs until yellow and thick and then gradually add in the sugar.  Pour the chocolate mixture in with the eggs and sugar along with a bit of the flour.

Add the flour and milk to the batter, and once mixed well, stir in the nuts.

Pour the batter into two 8X8 inch pans that are greased and lined with waxed paper.   Oh...the batter seems very runny. I'm not sure if all brownie recipes are like that since I don't make a lot of them.

Well...I remember my mom using waxed paper all the time for things like this. Birthday cakes were amazing things way back then. Sure they were lined with waxed paper to bake, but...BUT!!...they also had pennies, nickels, dimes, and the luckiest of quarters inside and all of them were wrapped in waxed paper and baked inside the cake. Each slice was a surprise to see what money you might find! I love those days, no one was worried you might accidentally choke on a dime...as kids, we knew what was in there. Ahh, the good old days of being able to eat dirt!  Haha, I digress... I didn't have waxed paper so I used parchment paper instead.

When I first took them from the oven they seemed a bit gooey...more gooey than a brownie hot from the oven should be, so I baked it another 10 minutes.

The frosting I used is from Remodelaholic's website and it's so yummy. It came out a bit thick, so I added a tiny bit of milk and then tried to spread it...oiy! It was like trying to spread fridge cold peanut butter and it was pulling up the fragile top of the brownies!  I added a bit more milk and thinned it up quite a bit more and spread it over the top of the thicker frosting to give it a cleaner look.  You can see it in the picture, it looks like there are 3 layers. But honestly, this is one accident I would do again! It was creamy and decadent!

I definitely recommend these!

Fudge Four O'Clocks
Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook - 1950 (pg 743)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces chocolate, melted
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup nuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt chocolate and pour over shortening. Mix well
2. Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored.
3. Add sugar gradually, beating well with each addition.
4. Combine mixtures (chocolate/shortening and egg/sugar) and add a little of the flour.
5. Sift rest of flour, salt, and baking powder together and add, alternatively with the milk.
6. Add chopped nuts.
7. Spread in 2 8X8 inch pans which have been greased and lined with waxed paper
8. Bake in a slow oven (325 F)  20 minutes
9. Cut into 32 bars 1X4 inches.

Nutella Frosting
(from Remodelaholic - click link above to visit!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Nutella
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• one shake salt
• splash of milk (if needed)

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat the Nutella and butter together until smooth.  
2. Add the sprinkle of salt and the first 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, beat until combined.  
3. Continue to add the powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, beating between additions, until creamy and smooth.  
4. Add a small splash of milk if necessary.

Matrimony Cake, Date Shortbread, or Date Squares?

I love to bake, but I have issues!

In Toronto, I could bake as much as I wanted and then take it in to work. It would disappear lickety-split! But here, in BC, I really don't know anyone and I'm working from home. So...what to make and whom to give it to? Sure, I can pawn off some on my mom - she has a sweet tooth, but eventually I'll end up filling her freezer...or make her go into a diabetic coma! 

My sister and I are trying to lose weight, not gain more...and I'd rather have the calories of a Canadian 67 beer instead of sweets.  Hahah, just sayin'

I can't let that stop me! Tally-ho and carry-on!

Today's choice is Date Shortbread (Matrimonial Cake) from the Five Roses Flour Cookbook. Personally I can see the Matrimonial Cake name being more in keeping with the squares, or as I knew them growing up: Date Squares.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've always viewed shortbread as a melt in your mouth biscuit type of cookie or bar...definitely not something with fruit.

Either way, perhaps these Date Square/Shortbread/Matrimonial Cakes will taste like the ones I remember my mom making!

The recipe for the crust is separate from the date filling in the cook book.  The date filling is actually used in quite a few of the recipes, which is why it's separate, I guess :)

So, moving on...

The filling:  Put 1/2 lb dates (chopped finely), 1/2 cup cold water, 2 tbsp brown sugar, grated rind of 1/2 an orange in a small pan,  and cook over moderate heat until thick and smooth. Add in 2 tbsp orange juice and 1 tsp lemon juice. That's all well and good, but not what I did.

I kind of messed up, I was supposed to add the juice once all the cooking was complete, but in my excitement I dumped everything in to the pot. I think it worked though! Also...I think moderate heat is to high as it was bubbling away and I thought it would burn before softening. In other recipes, it says bring to a boil and then simmer, so...that's what I did.  Also...I didn't have an orange, I forgot I ate it hahaha, so I used the zest of 2 lemons instead.  I did however have orange juice, so that part of the recipe is correct.

My filling: Put 1/2 lb dates (chopped finely), 1/2 cup cold water, 2 tbsp brown sugar,  zest of 2 lemons, 2 tbsp orange juice, and 1 tsp of lemon juice in a small pan. Cook on moderate heat until sauce begins to bubble and then simmer, stirring frequently.

I left it simmering for about 5 minutes while I got the dry ingredients ready, then left the filling to cool.

Sift your  1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp baking soda together in a bowl. Then add in the 1 cup of butter.  Make it all wonderfully crumbly using your fingertips. 

Add in the 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups of coarse oatmeal and mix until well combined.

The original recipe called for an 8 X 14 pan, which I didn't have, so I used a 9 X 13. I think it makes the bars quite thin. I think most people who make this probably do it in a 8 X 8 or 9 X 9 pan nowadays. Back in the day..haha, someones day.. not MINE! It was probably a very economical way to make a dessert stretch out for twice as many people and still taste as good.  Perhaps...to make a lot for guests at a wedding, hrmmm...it is named Matrimony Cake after all...  I digress...

Press half the batter into the bottom of a greased pan. I greased, lined with parchment, and then greased again so I could easily remove the cake for cooling.

Spread the cooled date mixture onto the bars. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using a spatula! I tried with the wooden spoon and it pulled up the crust, and also tried with my fingers..hahaha, bloody mess that was! My sister had to scrape my gooped up fingers off with the spatula, it wasn't pretty! :)  Apologies for the blurry picture.

Press the rest of the dough onto the date filling.  I really do think the 8 X 14 or 9 X 13 is stretching it thin. You can see the filling peaking out!

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes at 325 F and then turn up the heat just to brown at the end. I didn't need to, I baked mine 30 minutes and it was, for me, brown enough..my sister's oven is wonky though. You need to set the dial somewhere around 235 for the oven to heat to 350 F... so, I was guessing a bit to make it 325 F.

I took it out to cool. The parchment helped lift it out onto the rack. Even though it's thin, it looks yummy!

Date Shortbread (Matrimony Cake)
Five Roses Flour Cook Book - 1938 (page 69)

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2  cups old fashioned oatmeal

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and salt
2. Rub in butter with the tips of your fingers
3. Add sugar and oatmeal, mix well.
4. Spread half the mixture in a greased shallow pan (about 8 X 14 inches) and pat to make smooth.
5. Cover with cooled Date Filling, spreading it evenly, then cover with remaining crumbs, pat to make smooth.
6. Bake at 325 F for 30 - 35 minutes.
7. Increase heat slightly and bake for a few minutes longer to lightly brown the mixture.
8. Cut in squares while hot and allow the shortbread to cool in the pan.

Date Filling
Five Roses Flour Cook Book - 1938 (page 58)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 lb chopped dates
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• Grated rind of 1/2 orange
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook dates, water, orange rind, and sugar in a small saucepan, over a moderate heat until thick and smooth
2. Remove from fire
3. Add fruit juices; mix well.
4. Cool before spreading

 My Note: These are the exact instructions from the book, my modifications are in the descriptive text :) Enjoy!