Date syrup is the ideal way to leave the valuable honey with the bees and still give your desserts and hot drinks a delicious sweetness.
Date syrup is very easy to prepare yourself with a little patience. Just as sweet and tasty as honey, you can smear it on rolls, bake it, refine waffles or pancakes and, of course, sweeten teas and smoothies.
Potassium (good for heart and muscles)
Magnesium (for muscles, heart and brain)
Calcium (important for your bones)
Amino acid tryptophan (important for the formation of the sleep hormone melatonin)
Unfortunately, although dates are famous for their high fiber content, these are lost when the syrup is pressed. Since approx. 100 grams of dates contain approx. 50 to 70 grams of sugar, you do not need any additional sugar to prepare the syrup.
Date syrup: the recipe
To prepare the date syrup, you need a hand blender and a straining cloth as special utensils to squeeze out the syrup.
Ingredients for the date syrup:
200 g pitted dates
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
370 ml water
How to prepare the date syrup:
Pit the dates.
Take half of the dates and let them bake in the oven for about 40 minutes at 120 degrees.
Cut the other half of the dates into small pieces and place them in a saucepan of water.
Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise. Scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod and put everything in your pot. If you just want a light vanilla flavor, just scrape it once or twice with the teaspoon and store the rest of the pod in an airtight container in the fridge.
Now add cinnamon and lemon juice.
Bring the whole thing to a boil and then let it simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring constantly.
Now put the finished dates from the oven into the date-water mixture and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
So that the taste can develop properly, leave the pot covered in the kitchen for two hours.
Now take the hand blender and puree the whole thing.
Now place the straining cloth over a bowl. Place the pureed date mixture in the cloth and squeeze as much liquid as possible through.
Now you can fill your finished date syrup into jars and seal them airtight.
The date syrup can now be stored in the refrigerator for about two weeks.
