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Date Caramel Sauce/Syrup

1 ingredient {2 if you’re counting the water} date caramel/syrup is all natural, gently sweet and low on the glycemic index and can be used for everything from pancakes to parfaits/trifles.  I love how versatile this sauce is and enjoy it on my pancakes in the morning and as nice cream topping for dessert which is doubly nice.  Oh, and did I mention that it’s incredibly easy to make?  Soak, blend, strain and heat.  And that last step?  You can completely omit it for a raw date sauce, if that’s your thing.

The wonderful thing about this date sauce/syrup is that if you are cooking it down, it actually intensifies in both its flavor and nutritional value.  Its natural sugars begin to caramelize and create a rich, thick syrup while the vitamins and minerals of the dates themselves maintain their integrity.  You can of course enhance the taste with a sprinkle of salt and a tip of vanilla but neither are truly necessary as the pure and sweet nature of the dates really shines through.  I call this “sauce” slash “syrup” since its base characteristic mimics that of caramel sauce.  It looks just like caramel sauce and works wonderfully for fruit dippers when left as is but the further it cooks down, the more syrupy it becomes making it a wonderful natural sweetener for juices, teas and the like.

You don’t have to use your expensive medjool dates for these as deglet noor dates work well unless you desire a sweeter sauce.  I actually prefer the latter for baking/cooking while reserving plump medjools for serving intact like for stuffing with goat or blue cheese and wrapping in proscuitto.  However, if you’re using medjools, you won’t have to use as much water or soak them as long.  Try scaling back the water to 1 to 1 1/2 cups and soaking for 5-10 minutes in tepid water versus hot.

You can use this sweetener in place of honey or agave and it’s also low on the glycemic index, making it ideal for diabetics.  It’s also paleo, vegan, gluten and refined sugar free.  Oh, and it’s raw if you want it to be too.  Even if you’re not on the hunt for a healthier sugar alternative, I urge you to give this a try as it’s a delicately sweet taste that’s unlike any other and has an almost nutty, roast-y and buttery flavor.

 

5.0 from 1 reviews

Date Caramel Sauce/Syrup
 
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Author:
Serves: 1 cup

Ingredients
  • 1 c pitted, chopped dates
  • 2 c hot water

Instructions
  1. Soak all the dates with both cups of hot water for 15 minutes,
  2. Without draining, blend everything up.
  3. Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
  4. You can keep it raw just as is or cook.
  5. Heat on medium until it bubbles, thickens and reduces by half for a caramel like sauce.
  6. For a more syrup like consistency, cook until the sugars caramelize further, it takes on a darker brown color and reduces by ⅓-1/4.
  7. Cool and serve as desired.

 

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