Cocktails with Dates
Dates are the sweet, single-seeded fruit of the date palm — dense, fibrous and very high in sugar.
How it's used
Take the pit out first. Dates go into the blender whole for shakes, or are muddled or cooked down into a syrup. They bring a caramel sweetness and a body no sugar syrup has.
Substitutes for Dates
Other soft dates
Swap gram for gram. A large Medjool weighs about 24 g and a firm Deglet Noor just 7 g, so trade three small ones for every large one.
Date syrup
Pour the same weight, as the sugar matches up. It has almost no fiber, so shakes will run thinner. Check the ingredients on bottles labeled silan: some add sugar.
Raisins
Trade gram for gram. Make sure to soak them in water first, or the blender blades will just push them around.
Dried figs or prunes
They carry less sugar. Toss in a little extra fruit, blend it up, and check the balance.
Storage
Sealed and cool, dates keep for months. A semi-soft date holds about a month at room temperature and roughly eight months in the fridge. That is why soft Medjool are usually refrigerated and firm Deglet Noor are not. A white bloom under the skin is sugar crystallizing as the fruit ages: a sign of age, not spoilage. Dates harden as they dry; twenty minutes in hot water softens them enough to blend or muddle.
