20 Mar Date Delight Gourmet Chocolate Bar

Date Delight Artisan Chocolate Bar

The Story Behind One Beloved Bar: Date Delight Artisan Chocolate Bar

  Remember the previous blog post about our Beloved Bars, tributes in gourmet chocolate to foods and desserts the Geertsen family grew up loving? Well, here is the story behind the Date Delight cake that inspired the Date Delight artisan chocolate bar:

Date Delight Cake

Tyler’s mom, Loretta Geertsen, found the recipe for Date Delight at a baby shower in the 70s. At the ending of the baby shower, the hostess brought out warm, gooey chocolate cake and ice cream for everyone. She mentioned that she would not say what was in the cake until everybody tried it. Once everyone tasted the cake, the hostess revealed that the cake contained dates as an ingredient, which was so shocking to Mom! Mom loved this secret ingredient and asked for the recipe. She has always loved how the dates are unrecognizable, but create a moist cake for all to enjoy. 

Soon after the baby shower, Mom started making it for us as a birthday cake and it has been a family favorite ever since. We are forever grateful to Mom for going to that baby shower and asking for the Date Delight cake recipe!

Teresa, one of Tyler’s siblings, remembers having Date Delight cake for several of her birthdays while growing up. She loved it so much that she wanted to continue the tradition of this well-loved chocolate birthday dessert with her own family. Teresa started making Date Delight cake for her kids’ birthdays and it has been one of the most requested birthday treats until today! This cake is so good that it has been passed down a couple of generations in the Geertsen family and will surely be passed down several more!

Date Delight Beloved Bar

In honor of this special family treat, Tyler wanted to create an artisan chocolate bar called the Date Delight Beloved Bar, so that everyone could get a taste of what it means to be a part of the Geertsen family. 

The Geertsen family in the 1980s…. 

This artisan chocolate bar is made with ingredients such as:

• couverture dark chocolate
• chopped dates
• California walnuts
• sprinkling of brown sugar

The combination of dark chocolate, dates, and other ingredients make this gourmet chocolate bar delightful! Head to this link to order the Date Delight artisan chocolate bar! You will love this Beloved Bar! For anyone wholesalers out there, we sell this bar with the rest of our wholesale chocolate and confections! Click this link to create an account

If you’re curious and want to try making Date Delight after indulging in the artisan chocolate bar, we’ve included the cake recipe below: 

Date Delight Cake Recipe

1 c. sugar

1/3 c. shortening

1 t soda

1 c. chopped dates

1 1⁄2 cup boiling water

1⁄2 t salt

1⁄2 t soda

1 1⁄2 c flour

2 eggs

Topping

1⁄4 c. sugar

1⁄2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1⁄4 c. brown sugar

12 oz chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Pour boiling water over dates and 1 tsp soda. Let stand to soften dates. Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Add date mixture, Sift dry ingredients and add to other mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 9×13 pan. Sprinkle topping over cake and bake at 350F for around 30 minutes. Stick a toothpick in the cake to see if done. Add more time if needed. Serve with ice-cream, whipped cream, or Cool Whip.

As a side note, we looked up other Date Delight cake recipes on the internet, and the majority of them do not have chocolate chips in them. Make sure to add as many chocolate chips as you want! If you don’t add them to the cake, you’re doing it wrong!