Today’s recipe is my most recent obsession, which I found out about by complete accident. In search of whether something like healthy sugar actually exists, I came across date syrup or Silan (also referred to as date nectar or date honey) – a natural, liquid sweetener that is a staple in several Middle Eastern countries.
It’s a thick, ruby red syrup with a concentrated fruity taste as it is made exclusively of dates and water. It’s not hard or expensive (especially if you buy dates in bulk) to make and it offers a healthier substitute to other liquid sweeteners like brown rice syrup, agave syrup, maple syrup or (if you are not vegan) bees’ honey.
While, we have been led to believe that certain types of sugar are better for us than others, Dr Greger shows in this neat video that we have been tricked. It turns out that brown rice syrup and agave syrup, two liquid sweeteners beloved by the health conscious are both just as devoid of nutritional properties as regular, white sugar! Shocking, isn’t it? Maple syrup (which I personally like for its unique taste) or even honey did not fare much better in this comparison either, unfortunately.
The only two types of sugar that fare substantially better than others are date sugar and blackstrap molasses. The fact that date sugar proved to be a darling of this comparison isn’t too surprising given that date sugar is essentially dehydrated and ground up dates. It is pretty pricey and not easy to get hold of, so I’m not rushing to switch to it just yet, especially that it doesn’t dissolve or melt like regular sugar so it doesn’t work so well in baking, for example.
Date syrup, on the other hand, is suitable for baking and as it’s also extracted from dates it shares some of date sugar’s nutritional properties. Granted, it has none of the health promoting fibre and some of the other nutrients (potassium, magnesium, selenium and copper) are lost when the dates are cooked and the syrup is extracted, but compared to other sweeteners it still contains more minerals, particularly potassium and calcium.
And just to be clear, I am not making any wild health claims here. Date syrup is still an ingredient with an extremely high sugar content and as such, it should not be relied upon for meeting the bulk of your nutritional needs. It does appear to have a better nutritional profile when compared to other liquid sweeteners, it has a beautiful flavour and it’s easy and relatively cheap to prepare at home so I’m definitely filling my boots.
- 500 g / 1 lb dried pitted dates (I used the most common, Deglet Nour variety)
- 1 litre / 4 cups water
- Chop your dates roughly.
- Soak your dates in boiling water for 20 minutes to get rid of impurities, discard the soaking water afterwards.
- Place the soaked dates in a large lidded pot with 1 litre / 4 cups of water. Bring to a gentle boil, simmer, covered, for 1-2 hrs (2 is better if you have time).
- Allow it to cool down completely.
- Place a sieve over a large bowl and line the sieve with a large piece of cheesecloth or use a nut bag.
- Squeeze all of the water from the cooked dates really well. You’ll need to do this in smaller batches unless you have a very large piece of cheesecloth. You should get about 2 cups of liquid.
- Pour the date juice into a pot and allow it to come to a gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for about 45-60 minutes until the excess water evaporates and the syrup reduces by approximately half. If you dip a spoon in it, the syrup should coat the back of it – the syrup will become even thicker after cooling. If the syrup is too thin for your liking, return it to the heat and reduce some more, but be careful not to over reduce.
My method is adapted from this video.
How can I substitute date syrup for caster sugar in recipes? Equal volume or weight?
You could possibly substitute in recipes that call for liquid sweetener (like maple or agave syrup) but it really depends as date syrup has quite a pronounced taste and it may not work as well in all contexts. As for replacing sugar with it, I would advise caution as they are not that similar and so you may be okay sometimes but I haven't tested with it, I'm afraid. Ania
A good few months for sure, I haven't counted exactly but mine has been in the fridge for ages and it's still perfectly fine, no signs of spoilage. Hope this helps! Ania
You could do that but I don't think you'll get quite the same end result as when you make the syrup you do not include the flesh/pulp of the dates, which will be hard to isolate if you blend them. What you will get is a concentrated date puree rather than a syrup. Hope this helps! Ania
So my million dollar question is…. Does it taste like dates? You know that date flavour…. Does it taste like that? Or does it taste like caramelised sugar (considering we’ve cooked it for 2 hours) . Or just your normal white sugar syrup? I plan to use this in milk tea, coffee,French toast , and muffins, brownies, .
Also, do you know about pressure cooking? Do u think this syrup can be made by pressure cooking? 2 hrs on the stove would drive the gas bill and my mom crazy 😂
Please let me know. Thank you 💕💕
Does it taste like dates? Hmm, I am not sure how to answer that, a little maybe. It definitely tastes a little fruity yet with a hint of caramel (a bit like molasses without any bitterness). Unfortunately, I do not have a pressure cooker, but I am pretty sure at least the first stage is perfect for pressure cooking as you want to extract all the taste without any of the moisture escaping. The second part (45 min cook) needs to be done on the stove as you need to have a lid off for that. Hope this helps! x Ania
I would love to know your opinion on making the switch of ingredients.
Thanks,
Steph
I am pretty sure that once the syrup gets dried out properly in the oven mould won't be as much of an issue. It's the moisture that promotes mould growth. Good luck! x Ania
A quick question wrt the date syrup...Once it has cooked for about 2 hours, do you only use the liquid extracted from the actual dates )with the cheese cloth) or do you also add the left over liquid that is still in the saucepan , to the concentrate?
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. The syrup is the liquid squeezed out of dates after simmering for 2 hrs and reduced to the desired consistency. Hope this helps. Ania
Thanks so much for this recipe.
I made mine nearly 3 weeks ago, and have left it outside of the refrigerator as an experiment. Still beautiful ..colour, consistency, taste etc.
Thanks again...
Ps.... I have tried about 8 or 10 of your recipes already..and living them all
Thanks sooo much.
Just wanned to say big thanks for this recipe! It worked perfect, though I messed it up a bit when squeezing the dates as I decided to use the slow juicer 🙈 unfortunately, the dates stucked up in the upper part and no juice would come out. Yeah, I learnt something :))
As for the pulp I will use it in home made "nutella" recipe😊
BTW I used the mazafati dates, 600g of which, where I live, cost about the same as the ready made SILAN, but I still prefer to have it home made :)
Pesticides and other chemicals that dates might have been sprayed with by the grower, for example. You can skip this step if you don't think it necessary. Hope this helps! Ania
It depends on how much you'll reduce it but I got just over 1 cup (250 ml). Hope this helps! Ania
One great winter snack.
Thanks.
I am excited to try this, I need to get a cloth to filter the dates through first though. Thank you so much for sharing as it sounds perfect.
You are welcome, you could add the pulp to cake or pancake batter, for example. Hope this helps! Ania
Thanks for yr advise
I would love to help you but I don't own an instant pot so I have no idea. Sorry. Ania
Thanks for the post
I prepared my date syrup last week and realized that it's fermented
this week although I didn't refrigerate
What should be done
Was it that it wasn't thick enough
Thanks
I only just pit them. I have never heard of this particular type of dates - they are not popular here as far as I know - but I don't see why not. Ania
Inspired by Spiced Silan Boubon Cocktail recipe in Adeena Sussman's book "sababa".
The first one - soak them in boiling water. Hope that helps! Ania
You should not be alluding that date syrup is complient with Dr Gregers recommendations for whole food plant based diets
Date syrup, on the other hand, is suitable for baking and as it’s also extracted from dates it shares some of date sugar’s nutritional properties. Granted, it has none of the health promoting fibre and some of the other nutrients (potassium, magnesium, selenium and copper) are lost when the dates are cooked and the syrup is extracted, but compared to other sweeteners it still contains more minerals, particularly potassium and calcium.
And just to be clear, I am not making any wild health claims here. Date syrup is still an ingredient with an extremely high sugar content and as such, it should not be relied upon for meeting the bulk of your nutritional needs. It does appear to have a better nutritional profile when compared to other liquid sweeteners, it has a beautiful flavour and it’s easy and relatively cheap to prepare at home so I’m definitely filling my boots.
Thanks for the instructions on making date syrup at home. I did it and the syrup turned our great and some of my friends have also learnt from you.
Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.
Nicely written procedure. It led to the expected end.
The syrup came out really nice.
I am leaving it unrefrigerated to know how long it keeps. This is because I haven't seen any information online that talked about preserving without refrigeration. Plus, irregular power supply patterns in the tropics and developing countries doesn't encourage refrigeration.
In all, well done Ania!
I made a lot of research on sugar for my radio show and i can assure you that maple syrup is not bad and is the only one that doesn't make the sugar level go up in the body. Didn't know about the date sirup before so i don't know about it for the sugar level but you shouldn't put down the maple syrup as it is also a good way of sweetening something
I did link to the video (here is the link again)
explaining how alternative sugars, maple syrup including, compare to regular sugar so please take a look if you are interested in this. The link to the video showing how to make date syrup was simply to acknowledge that I did not invent this technique myself, but adapted it from another source. Hope that makes sense! Ania
Good site...keep up the good work!
Thanks for your point of view, to which I will reply 'each to their own'. Many of my readers are super keen on using only natural sweeteners with as much nutritional value as possible (I get asked that all the time) so I thought this recipe will make them happy. If you don't care for it, fair enough and I get your point, but no harm in having both (sweetness and nutrition) if it's possible. Ania
Thanks for the elaborate process written.
Irin
I love the idea of the date sugar because it might be cheaper to make it than to buy maple sugar, but you should research about the maple sirup more
It's slightly sweet, so I would incorporate it into muffins, cakes or maybe even vegan burgers. Ania
Any idea how long this will keep if refrigerated?
I imagine it's similar to maple syrup, which means that if you keep in a glass container in the fridge, it should keep for months without any mould growth. Hope that helps! Ania
Date syrup, on the other hand, is suitable for baking and as it’s also extracted from dates it shares some of date sugar’s nutritional properties.
I'm not following the above. Is date syrup okay for baking or not?? In one paragraph it is and the other it isn't
Date sugar and date syrup are two different things even though they are both derived from dates. Date sugar isn't great in baking as it doesn't dissolve like sugar, date syrup on the other hand is perfect! Ania