{"id":54225,"date":"2024-12-15T06:34:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T11:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/?p=54225"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:28:52","slug":"the-date-squares-from-maurices-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/les-carres-aux-dattes-de-la-femme-a-maurice-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The date squares from Maurice\u2019s wife"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I\u2019ve already told you the story of a delicious recipe a sweet customer had given me back in the early days. Do you recall? Her husband, an Irishman, ate big wieners for breakfast. Almost every morning, he\u2019d show up just before 8, sit down on one of the stools at the counter and order three sunny-side-up eggs, a mountain of potatoes and three large sausages he\u2019d swallow in one go. I couldn\u2019t quite understand why he refused to try our delicious omelettes or generous stuffed cr\u00eapes. But, like clockwork, he\u2019d faithfully come in every morning to eat the same comforting dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This customer, an anglophone, was called Maurice and I eventually named his breakfast order after him: \u201cEggs Maurice.\u201d This dish appeared on our menu for a very long time and was a best-seller with hearty eaters. As a way to thank me for honouring her husband, his wife brought me a lovely plate of delicious date squares with her own recipe hand-written on a neatly folded, piece of white lined paper. Date squares are just the thing when you want to enjoy a comforting treat that\u2019s both crispy and moist, nourishing and delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on for Maurice\u2019s wife\u2019s recipe, to which I\u2019ve added my own touch based on some 37 years of experience as a self-taught restaurant cook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make 9 big squares, you will need a well-buttered 8-inch square ovenproof baking pan. I always double the recipe and I wrap each piece separately before freezing, so I always have some on hand for an evening snack. True, I don\u2019t really have a sweet tooth, but give me a cup of black tea, a good movie on TV and one of these squares, and I\u2019m in heaven. I love dates and I often eat some because they\u2019re rich in vitamin C, E, B2 and B3, and they\u2019re apparently excellent for my old muscles and bones. Did you know? Dates contain zinc and iron and help reduce blood pressure and joint pain. It even turns out they\u2019re rich in antioxidants and have anti-aging benefits. Hallelujah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, the recipe! Set the oven to 350\u00b0F. Place 2\u00bd cups of chopped pitted dates in a pot with 1 cup of water, 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. My secret? I use orange juice instead of water and replace the brown sugar with a small can (398 ml) of crushed pineapple with its juice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slowly cook the dates, stirring until you obtain a pur\u00e9e. Allow to completely cool. In the summer, I place the pot in a large bowl filled with ice cubes or in a snowbank if it\u2019s winter. A snowbank is ideal for cooling fudge and caramel while you whisk or even a big pot of soup when you need to quickly serve a warm bowl to hungry kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the crumble, combine 1\u00be cups of quick cooking oats, 1 cup of regular white flour, \u00be cup of brown sugar, a pinch of baking powder and \u00be cup of softened butter in a bowl. Spread half the crumble over the bottom of the well-buttered baking pan. Press down firmly with a fork or your fingers. Next, evenly spread the date mixture on top. Finish with the remainder of the crumble, pressing very lightly and taking care to completely cover the layer of dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, I have been reducing the quantity of oatmeal in the crumble slightly and replacing it with slivered almonds. It\u2019s a great idea that I got from a specialty magazine whose name escapes me now. It seems to always make the squares extra crunchy and every mouthful a bit tastier. The key is to make sure you divide up the crumble evenly. Make sure you don\u2019t put too much on the bottom and run out for the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe date squares are a bit like life! Everything is a question of balance. \u201cKnowing how to love is just as important as knowing how to work.\u201d Oh, how those words hurt my ears: I\u2019m certainly no master when it comes to balance. We can always improve, however, and it\u2019s never too late to surprise yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook for about 50 minutes or until the crumble is nicely golden. Allow to cool at least 4 hours or overnight before removing from the pan and cutting into squares. I cut them up directly in the pan once they\u2019ve completely cooled and use my egg spatula to carefully remove each piece. I then wrap each square of happiness individually and slip them into the freezer. I divvy up the squares as follows: two or three for myself, two for my neighbour, two for my granddaughter and two for the beggar, like my Grandpa Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric, in Gasp\u00e9sie, used to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thanked Maurice\u2019s wife several times for introducing me to date squares. My Mother had never made any, probably because dates were hard to come by in the Gasp\u00e9sie in 1950. After Maurice\u2019s wife had shared her recipe with me, I began making them in my first small restaurant, following her handwritten instructions to a T. The customers loved them for a lunchtime dessert. The taxi drivers were the first to ask for a few to take on the road. I had to double the recipe just to meet demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, while perusing an old menu displaying \u201cEggs Maurice,\u201d the famous date squares of the wife of Maurice, the Irishman, came to mind. I had to rummage through my memory, my archives and my old handwritten recipe books to find this famous recipe for date squares. I thought you might like this recipe so you can treat your family and friends over the holidays. You should double it too! From me, to you, with all my love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cora
\u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve already told you the story of a delicious recipe a sweet customer had given me back in the early days. Do you recall? Her husband, an Irishman, ate big wieners for breakfast. Almost every morning, he\u2019d show up just before 8, sit down on one of the stools at the counter and order three sunny-side-up eggs, a mountain of potatoes and three large sausages he\u2019d swallow in one go. I couldn\u2019t quite understand why he refused to try our delicious omelettes or generous stuffed cr\u00eapes. But, like clockwork, he\u2019d faithfully come in every morning to eat the same comforting dish. This customer, an anglophone, was called Maurice and I eventually named his breakfast order after him: \u201cEggs Maurice.\u201d This dish appeared on our menu for a very long time and was a best-seller with hearty eaters. As a way to thank me for honouring her husband, his wife brought me a lovely plate of delicious date squares with her own recipe hand-written on a neatly folded, piece of white lined paper. Date squares are just the thing when you want to enjoy a comforting treat that\u2019s both crispy and moist, nourishing and delicious. Read on for Maurice\u2019s wife\u2019s recipe, to which I\u2019ve added my own touch based on some 37 years of experience as a self-taught restaurant cook. To make 9 big squares, you will need a well-buttered 8-inch square ovenproof baking pan. I always double the recipe and I wrap each piece separately before freezing, so I always have some on hand for an evening snack. True, I don\u2019t really have a sweet tooth, but give me a cup of black tea, a good movie on TV and one of these squares, and I\u2019m in heaven. I love dates and I often eat some because they\u2019re rich in\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":54226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Mme Cora partage \u00e0 nouveau le souvenir et la recette des fameux carr\u00e9s aux dattes de la femme \u00e0 Maurice, une fid\u00e8le cliente.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"class_list":["post-54225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54225"}],"curies":[{"name":"WP","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}