Date squares are dessert bars with a baked date filling between two layers of oatmeal-based crust. They are often sold in coffee and pastry shops. The dessert was known as a wedding cake in some areas of Western Canada in the 1930s and was made with breadcrumbs and apples in the filling. Today, most recipes use just chopped dates, and the crust and filling are made separately before being baked in layers and cut into bars.
Date squares are dessert bars that have a baked date filling between two layers of an oatmeal-based crust. The layered dessert is baked and cooled before being cut into squares. These dessert squares are often sold in coffee and pastry shops.
While not a cake, date boxes are sometimes called a date sandwich cake, and were also known as a wedding cake or marriage cake in some areas of Western Canada in the 1930s. The wedding-related names given to the dessert made up of both smooth and rough textures are said to reflect the contrast between the easy and difficult times of marriage. Wedding pie from the 1930s was made a little differently than most recipes for date squares today in that breadcrumbs were often used in the crust and apples were used with dried fruit in the filling.
Today, most square recipes use just chopped dates for the fruit in the filling, although some versions also add raisins or figs. After the dates have been cooked with water to make the filling smooth, the zest and juice of an orange or lemon are mixed into the date mixture. Many square recipes also call for the addition of vanilla extract at this point.
The date squares are simple enough to make since the bottom and top crust are made with the same blend. The mixture is just divided in half. Flour, oats, sugar and usually cinnamon form the dry ingredients for the two crusts. Some recipes call for baking soda and/or salt. The oil concentrate and orange juice may be the only wet ingredients for the crusts and are combined with the dry ingredients.
Maple extract rather than vanilla extract can be added to the baked and chilled date filling before spreading the filling over the bottom crust. Many recipes for date squares call for butter instead of oil. Brown sugar is used in most square recipes, but some use corn syrup instead. Whole-wheat or gluten-free flour can be substituted for the all-purpose flour called for in most recipes for date squares. The final task in making date squares is to bake the dessert in layers, cool it down and cut it into bars.
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