Comments on: Shake Up Your Dates! http://www.nuts.com/blog/2011/06/17/shake-up-your-dates/ Get the daily scoop on our new products including: bulk nuts, dried fruits, candies & sweets by the pound. Nutty news, recipes, health tips & facts. Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:16:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Crystal http://www.nuts.com/blog/2011/06/17/shake-up-your-dates/#comment-19929 Crystal Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:53:34 +0000 http://nuts.com/blog/?p=987#comment-19929 I am (was!) a second generation SoCal native, and I've had tons of date shakes, from the more healthy style, to the more decadent that are traditional in the Coachella valley where they originate. The most famous are Shields. They actually use (and sell) dried, finely chopped dates. You mix those with water, freeze, add an unmentionable amount of rich vanilla ice cream, and just enough milk to blend it together. Takes forever to drink though it's so thick, and in the hot Inland Empire you'll burn through the liquids and calories in no time. They are an occasional treat, but still my favorite. :) Your dates are too tasty to pulverize in such a manner, so I simply throw a fat handful into my ice cream and milk. For a little extra decadence you can soak the dates to make them easier to blend, but I soak them in my alcohol of choice. Sherry usually, marsala is nice, and Baileys is very good too. A little brandy and you have a date enriched take on the old-timey Brandy Alexander. I soak them the same way in alcohol any time I'm going to cook them. Yours don't necessarily need the extra moisture, but it does make them even more tasty! It's hard to make a date shake wrong, they're heavenly! Go experiment folks, NutsOnline has more. :) I am (was!) a second generation SoCal native, and I’ve had tons of date shakes, from the more healthy style, to the more decadent that are traditional in the Coachella valley where they originate. The most famous are Shields. They actually use (and sell) dried, finely chopped dates. You mix those with water, freeze, add an unmentionable amount of rich vanilla ice cream, and just enough milk to blend it together. Takes forever to drink though it’s so thick, and in the hot Inland Empire you’ll burn through the liquids and calories in no time.

They are an occasional treat, but still my favorite. :)

Your dates are too tasty to pulverize in such a manner, so I simply throw a fat handful into my ice cream and milk. For a little extra decadence you can soak the dates to make them easier to blend, but I soak them in my alcohol of choice. Sherry usually, marsala is nice, and Baileys is very good too. A little brandy and you have a date enriched take on the old-timey Brandy Alexander. I soak them the same way in alcohol any time I’m going to cook them. Yours don’t necessarily need the extra moisture, but it does make them even more tasty!

It’s hard to make a date shake wrong, they’re heavenly! Go experiment folks, NutsOnline has more. :)

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