It is sunnah to break your fast with dates.

“The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: When one of you is fasting, he should break his fast with dates”

Narrated by Salman ibn Amir

When it comes to iftars, I am always on the lookout for the best dates I can get my hands on.  If you ask me, there is no better date than the Medjool date. I had an iftar at home this weekend for mother’s day and I knew that I had to do a little something to amp up my dates. I mean there is nothing wrong with a date.  It’s pretty perfect. But if you are going to eat it for thirty straight days, some days you can add a bit of pizazz to this sweet Sunnah food.

What you need:

12 large Medjool dates

4oz of cream cheese, softened

3T of powdered sugar

1/2t of cardamom powder

4 pieces of assorted nutty baklava (I used ones with almonds and pistachios for colour)

Directions:

1. Select the driest dates you can find because they are the prettiest and most solid
2. Slice the medjool dates down the center to make a pocket and remove the pit.
3. For the filling combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and cardamom powder till it is all mixed and a smooth paste
4. Take a small spoon and carefully spoon the filling into the hollow dates
5. Take the pieces of baklava and chop into a chunky crumble
6. Take each date and press into the baklava crumble opening side down
7. Lift up and set on serving platter. Continue with each date till done.

Serves 6

I really hope you will try this recipe out and let me know how you enjoyed it! It was loved by my whole family so I really hope yours loves it too.