Category Archives: Date

Vintage Cooking: Chinese Chews

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When I was at primary school, I would often fill an afternoon baking something with my mum or a friend who had come over (remember, Louise?). But what to bake? We would pull out all the recipe books and pore over the baking sections. We made shortlists. We made shortlists of the shortlists. I think we spent more time choosing than we did baking.

I always, always came to rest on Chinese Chews. But for some reason, another recipe always won out. It may be because we didn’t often have walnuts, dates or crystallised ginger (or all three) in the house. It may be because the tried and true chocolate cake in Alison Holst’s “What’s Cooking” was too tempting. For whatever reason, I’ve wanted to make these for nearly 20 years.

I don’t know what I expected them to be – that’s half the fun of recipe books with no photos, you have no pre-conceived idea of what they should be or look like. Turns out their like a chewy, short cross between a cake and a slice. Sort of like a brownie but much lighter and   not made with chocolate.

They’re not actually a family recipe, as most of my vintage cooking posts. These are from the Edmonds cookbook that almost everyone has. They’re a lovely wee weekend bake. As with many of these old recipes, what makes these “Chinese”? No idea.  Could be the inclusion of exotic ingredients such as dates and ginger?

Chinese Chews
from Edmonds Cookery Book

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
75g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1½ cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
½ cup rolled oats
¾ cup chopped dates
¾ cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup crystallised ginger

Preheat the oven to 180°(C). Line a 23cm square cake tin (or I used a brownie pan).

Beat eggs and sugar until well mixed. Add butter and vanilla. Into a large bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in rolled oats. Pour egg mixture into the sifted dry ingredients. Add dates, walnuts and ginger. Mix well. Spread mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked. Cut into squares while still hot.

Vintage Cooking: Canadian Date Loaf

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My mum used to make a sultana loaf when we were little. I remember finding little buttered slices of it in my lunch box at school. And she must have served it to visitors, because I have a funny memory of standing beside a coffee table, which came up to my 4 year old waist, and seeing a plate of buttered loaf slices with 3 or 4 of those brown tinted glass coffee mugs that everyone had/has. I have no idea why I would remember that! It seems otherwise insignificant. But the mind is a strange beast.

Anyway, I’m not sure what made me think of this loaf a few months ago, but I got mum to email me the recipe. I baked the loaf a few days ago, and the aroma of it cooking in the oven created one of those spooky moments. I hadn’t had this loaf since I was quite little, and the smell of it really got me! All the memories came flooding back. Do you have foods or smells that transport you?

This is a family recipe. Grandma used to make it, too, but I have no idea where it came from. I also have no idea what makes it ‘Canadian’. Furthermore, mum never made it with dates, usually sultanas, so its title really was misleading. I did make it with dates this time, though, and re-discovered how beautiful this loaf is. The boiling and macerating before baking results in a dark and caramelly loaf, with a beautiful soft texture. You’d be forgiven for thinking it had treacle or golden syrup in it.  The loaf also freezes well, and has a comparatively low fat content with only 1 Tbsp butter (it does sort of make up for that with high sugar, but… you know…). It’s truly my favourite loaf in the world.

Please give it a go! You won’t be disappointed.

Canadian Date Loaf

1 cup sugar
1½ cups water
8oz dates, sultanas, mixed fruit – whatever you like
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp mixed spice
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Place the sugar, water, fruit, butter and mixed spice in a large-ish saucepan over medium heat, and stir together. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, and boil for 5 minutes. Leave it in the saucepan until cold.

Preheat the oven to 180°(C). Lightly grease a loaf tin. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together, and stir into the boiled and cooled fruit mixture. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin, and bake for about 45 mins to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in its tin to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack. When cold, cut into slices, and enjoy as is or with a wee spread of butter.

Fig in a Blanket

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I love trying out new bakery products. Especially when travelling. When I came across a golden little pastry in a bakery in New York (lucky, I know), and the sign said Fig Bar, I knew I had to have it. Right then. Right there.

There were two nice ladies behind the counter. I asked, “Can I please have a fig bar?”

One lady started giggling. The other bit her lip to avoid doing the same, and said, “Excuse me?”

I realised I had made a mistake. All they had heard was, “Ken Oi Pleez Hev Uh Fug Bah?”

I repeated the question in my best fudged American accent.

“Oh, a fig bar. Well of course, sugar!” came the reply.

And then, the little warm pastry roll filled with fig paste was mine. I had never tried a fig bar before, but I understand they’re very popular in the US. I think the Fig Newton is a mass produced version of the fig bar (am I right?). Anyway. This one was so good. I have set about trying to recreate it. I had a look through my books at home to see if I could find anything similar, and patched a few things together to make these ones. The pastry recipe comes from a book called “Sweet Food” that I got in a paper plus bargain bin years ago. It’s a small fat book – if you see it in a shop, buy it. It is actually full of great stuff.

I’d love to say I took this photo, but I didn’t. That credit goes to my photography tutor. Thanks, Alastair!

Back to the fig bars. They have a cream cheese pastry – slightly crisp, but not biscuit-y. The cream cheese flavour is really subtle, but goes nicely with the dried fruit mix. Instead of using just figs, I mixed in a few different dried fruits, and added a wee bit of dark chocolate. Enjoy!

Fig, Date & Chocolate Bars
Adapted from “Sweet Food”

Cream Cheese Pastry
90g cream cheese, softened (don’t use spreadable or lite stuff, it’s too soft)
60g caster sugar
1 egg, separated
3 Tbsp milk
1½ cups plain flour
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder

Fruit Filling
220g chopped dried fruit, any mix you like*
60g dark chocolate, chopped (or dark chocolate chips)
1 tsp lemon zest
¼ cup runny honey
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon

*I used mainly figs and dates, there were also a few dried apricots and raisins in there

To make the pastry, beat the cream cheese and caster sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and milk, then sift in the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours (I left mine in the fridge overnight).

To make the dried fruit filling, just put everything in a food processor and whiz until finely chopped. Best to use the pulse function here so you don’t end up with a mushy fruit sauce. I also made the filling the day before and kept it in the fridge too.

When you’re ready to make the fig bars, preheat the oven to 180°(c). These are funny things to make at this point. You need to roll really long strips of the pastry. The recipe suggested dividing both the pastry and the fruit filling into three to make this easier. So, roll each third of the fruit filling into a sausage shape about 30cm long. Then, roll each third of your pastry out to a 10cmx30cm rectangle.

Brush one long edge of each pastry rectangle with water, so it’s easily sealed when you roll it up. Then place one fruit filling rope on each pastry rectangle – closer to the side that you haven’t brushed with water. I flattened my fruit filling down a little, and then rolled the pastry over, pressing the damp pastry to seal it nicely. Get the pastry roll with the seam side down, and cut into bars, just like you cut up sausage rolls. I made mine about 4-5cm long. Then place the bars  (seam side down) on a lined baking tray.

Hopefully you kept the egg white when you made the pastry. Mix it with 1 Tbsp of water, and brush this over the bars as a glaze. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until they’re shiny and golden. Leave them on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. It makes about 24 bars the size of mine.