ODDS NOT EVENS

I've been in the kitchen since the crack of dawn, preparing five batches of date balls for my two next orders, due first thing tomorrow morning and this coming Monday.

The first one is for my second customer, and they've ordered a batch of each of my four variations. Just as well, since the gift parcels for my December order is a variety request, so this is as good a time as ever to define my final products and take them from proof of concept to set expectations.

So I aimed for the various types to be distinctly different, both in terms of looks and flavour profiles. 

It's a date ball to be sure and there are only so much you can do from one variety to the next, but I know that subtle touches can go a long way, in terms of unique identity.

I was satisfied with the Cape Malay Style Date Ball as well as the Jamaican Honeymoon, but I thought the Indulgent Date Ball could be a bit more to the taste of a coffee connoisseur. 

In order to make them so, I tweaked the spices a touch and also accented it with a hint of clove, then added coffee grounds to the desiccated coconut and rolled them in it - changing not only the look, but also enforcing their beautiful, bitter-sweet coffee flavour.

The Festive Date Ball version, that tasted more like fruitcake, has since become obsolete to me. 

The new replacement will be equally festive, but the flavour profile, distinctly Stollen - though they'll still include the brandied fruit mix, I was so taken by the flavours of the Stollen, that I simply had to incorporate more almond, cardamon and nutmeg into mine. 

I've dubbed this new and upgraded version the Dresden Date Ball, a nod to its origin of inspiration. Naturally, coating them in icing sugar instead, was the only logical conclusion to my mind. 

All in all, I'm satisfied with the results and find them distinctly different enough in looks and flavours to warrant the title, "variety pack".

Only one problem, and perhaps this is due to my stylist eye OCD - but I'm not a fan of even numbers - my eyes are drawn to, and fascinated by, triangles and odd numbers that create asymmetrical tension and natural flow, so photographing four, instead of three varieties, made me uncomfortable. 

How do I remedy this problem?

Easily, I simply must design a fifth variation! So I thought about flavours that could lend themselves to this medium, but still be distinctly recognisable from the rest. Immediately, I could think of at least three more possibilities, so perhaps I should come up with eight in total, then together with the original one, I'll be able to produce a sample pack of nine.

A future project? Maybe.

At present however, only one immediately appealed to me - Rooibos Chai Date Balls - I'm mulling it over in my head and I've determined the flavour profile, the ingredients and the coating, but putting it into practice will be another day's business, 

"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."*

WORDS: rhodenel©28NOV2024 

PHOTOGRAPHY: rhoderuth©28NOV2024

*Jesus Christ, Matthew 6:34