Date Syrup

Looking to prepare a sugar alternative that is full of antioxidants, vitamins and fibers? Date syrup, honey or molasses is a rich sweetener that has been used in Lebanon and neighboring countries in baking or for health issues. This syrup is caramel colored and can be thickened to have the consistency of all other molasses. While the process of preparing date molasses does not require much effort or include several steps, it does need time and patience.

Whether it is used as an additive to drinks, substitute to white sugar in sweet or just enjoyed with some Tahini this syrup is equally exquisite in all cases. It is so versatile and it only needs one ingredient: DATES! Just add water and you’re good to go. You will get an unprocessed sweetener that is full of flavor. If you

PREPARATION TIME AND COOKING TIME: 2h

Serves :300ml

Ingredients you will need

400g date
1L water

Equipment

Chopping board
Pot
Wooden spoon
Cheese cloth
Blender/food processor

Instructions

Method

Pit and roughly chop the dates and add them to a pot.
Cover the dates with the water and bring them to a boil. Reduce heat and allow them to simmer for 45 minutes.
While the mixture boils, stir occasionally and skim the date skin floating to the surface.
With a wooden spoon mash the softened dates to bring out the most of their flavor into the liquid.
Drain the date mix into a cheese cloth collecting the liquid into a bowl. Twist and massage the cheese cloth to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
You can choose to blend the date mixture completely before draining through the cheese cloth to make sure you extract the most flavor.
Strain the liquid and bring to a boil allowing it to simmer for another 45 minutes to reduce by about a half. The liquid should get thicker and darker in color as it boils.
You might need to boil it down for more than 45 minutes, take off the heat as soon as you get the consistency you wish for keeping in mind that it does get thicker as it cools down.

Tips and Questions

While chopping the dates, use an oiled knife if the dates are too sticky.
If you are using dried dates, soak them in extremely hot water for at least 15 minutes after chopping them to soften. You can instead simmer them for an hour instead of 45 minutes to preserve all flavor
After draining the mixture, the dates can be used to prepare a date paste. However, the flavors will not be as rich using whole dates.

Benard Chedid

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