Spiced Date & Sesame Crunchies

This was a recipe I had been looking forward to for ages, and it turns out I was wise to do so. These are something like date biscuit sandwiches - what's not to like? The recipe can be found on page 111 of Delia's Cakes, and really consists of two parts - the date bit in the middle (the sandwich filling) and the lovely biscuitty top and bottom (the bread of the sandwich).

The date mix is easy - particularly if you read the recipe properly before popping to the shops and realise the dates need to be finely chopped and so purchase chopped dates rather than whole ones (smug face). They go into a pan with some water, lemon juice and cinnamon and heat gently until it looks spreadable - this took about 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, the biscuit-esque part can be put together. It's just a case of melting some butter and sugar then pouring onto some flour, semolina and sesame seeds. Then it gets a bit weird. Half of this mixture becomes the bottom of the 'crunchies' and as it's warm, it can be easily pressed into the bottom of the greased tin. The semolina does make it a bit of a strange texture, and it's very buttery so prepare for greasy fingers. Next the spreadable date mix gets spread on top, by which time the other half of the biscuit mixture has changed totally in consistency and is now crumbly! However, not a problem as it can be crumbled on top and then pressed down to cover the dates.

I would say it is quite important to get the right size tin for this - too small and the slices would be like bricks, but too big and you'd never get the mixture to cover over the date sandwich filling in the middle. Luckily I seemed to have just the right size tin and they worked out great. The recipe said it makes 18, but I went for more generous sized slices and got 15 instead. They sliced beautifully and came out really neat and as the name would suggest... crunchy.  They are perfect to take to work with a cup of tea, pack as part of a picnic or a car snack. The sweetness of the dates means they aren't as heavy on sugar as some other snacks, and surely they count as one of your five-a-day! The cinnamon in the date mix is delicious, and gives just a hint of the spiced joys of all the baking to come next month - Christmas is on its way!