After my healthy tofu dinner it was time to reward my virtue with a yummy dessert, so I made Martha’s Date Shake from the West on page 347.
I used some homemade vanilla ice cream to make this shake and I added just a touch of fresh ginger to give it a little hint of spice. I also scraped a fresh madagascar vanilla bean into the shake which gave it kick of extra flavor. Then I topped it with freshly whipped vanilla whipped cream and put a piece of date on top instead of the standard cherry.
I considered putting my pitted dates into the food processor to chop them but I decided to just cut ’em up myself. I’m very glad I did because two of them were NOT pitted and little pieces of hard pit in your shake is definitely not a good thing! But aside from that not-so-pleasant surprise, this was very simple to make. And yes, you can always use store bought ice cream for a shake, but as you know I just love making my own. I can be a big nag over the issue of making things by scratch when I know it will be a lot better that way, but there are plenty of fantastic ice cream brands out there like Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs that you’ll never go wrong with.
Coming from the East coast, I wasn’t familiar with the date shake. The shakes I grew up with were mainly chocolate and vanilla. Dates are naturally sweet and make a great addition to a shake! I’m sure most of the West coast already knew this, but it was quite a revelation to me. Once again, Martha’s American Food has showed me a terrific new way to enjoy one of my all time favorite desserts!
