DATE SQUARES

This recipe can be varied in all sorts of ways using a simple dough as a base. It’s from the second Journal of Agriculture Cookery Book that was published in 1959 when World War II was a not-so-distant memory and housewives were still using a lot of the frugal cooking shortcuts they learnt during the war. My husband Paul made this and was so proud, he posted it on Facebook. He was delighted to be reminded by his older brother that his mother used to make these for them.

BASE

250g butter

85g sugar

2 eggs, beaten

500g flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 / tsp salt 2

DATE FILLING

400g dates, finely chopped

½ cup water

Juice of 1 lemon 1 Preheat oven to 180°C.

2 Cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in eggs.

3 Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Stir into the creamed butter mixture to make a dough.

4 For the date filling, put all the ingredients in a pan and heat until the dates are soft.

5 Roll out dough on a floured board and cut in half. Place one half on a cold oven tray. Spread evenly with the date mixture, then top with the second half of dough.

6 Use a knife to mark roughly into serving-sized squares and pierce each square with a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes. HINTS: Apple stewed with

2 tbsp sugar instead of lemon is a good alternative filling. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top for a bit of crunch.