Baked Date and Apple Spring Roll

Summer is finally here! Sunshine and warm weather are definitely a welcomed change after a brutal 6 month long winter. With summer comes picnics and barbeques! These are perfect perfect for those occasions. They are baked date and apple spring rolls or 枣泥苹果春卷 zǎoní pínggǔo chūnjǔan. These are naturally sweet with no added sugar and are much healthier than their fried relatives.

Spring rolls are generally served during the spring festival in northern and eastern China. The spring festival is commonly known in the west as Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. "Spring Festival" is the literal translation of the name of this occasion from Chinese. 

These delicacies were considered a once in a year treat but are now available for sale just about anywhere. They traditionally consist of various fillings wrapped in a thin pastry skin and deep fried. 

There are a wide variety of fillings that can be used ranging from the ordinary shredded cabbage, carrots, ground pork, shrimp, eggs, rice vermicelli noodles to the more exotic like:


Source: http://spiceboxtravels.com/2011/06/07/eat-your-flowers-chive-flower-omelet/


Garlic Chives



Source: http://www.sefood.net/products/edible-tree-fungus,-wood-ear-fungus-ID140.html

Wood Ear Mushrooms


Source: http://www.greenishthumb.net/2010/04/growing-buying-cooking-water-chestnuts.html

Water Chestnuts

The varieties are endless, but they are traditionally savoury fillings. Recently, sweet fillings have been on the rise in popularity ranging from red bean paste to bananas and chocolate.

My twist includes the use of dates.

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 2 lb Medjool Dates
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 nutmeg
• 1/2 salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup water and a few tbsp extra
• 2 small Granny Smith Apples

Apple Soaking Liquid:

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 cups water

Paste:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Other Ingredients:

• 36 small spring roll wrappers
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp mixed sesame seeds

Method:

1. Pit and chop the dates into small pieces and place them into a sauce pan.
2. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vanilla extract and water to the sauce pan.
3. Cook the date mixture on low and continuously mash it with a spatula until it becomes a lumpy spreadable paste and set aside to cool. Add additional water if the mixture is too thick. It should be easily spreadable but not soupy.
4. Peel the apples and cut into fat matchsticks that measure about 1.5 inch in length, 1/4 inch in width, and 1/8 inch in thickness. They don’t have to be exact just about this size.
5. Place the sliced apple into a large bowl with the 3 cups of water and lemon juice to keep them from browning.
6. Mix the water with the flour to form a thick paste. This will act as the glue for the spring rolls.
7. Take a spring roll skin and place it on your work surface in front of you such that a corner is pointing towards you.
8. Place one heaping teaspoon of the date mixture in a line just below the middle of the spring roll skin closer to the corner pointing towards you. Place four to five slices of apple on top of the mixture.
9. Roll the corner pointing towards you over the filling. Fold the two side corners into the centre.
10. Spread some of the flour paste onto the remaining unrolled sides and keep roll until it forms a log.
11. Place the spring rolls on a greased baking pan. They can be packed relatively close together as they do not expand.
12. Melt butter in the microwave and brush the tops of each spring roll with a generous layer of butter. This keeps them from drying out too much and becoming hard instead of crispy.
13. Sprinkle them with sesame seeds.
14. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Video recipe here:

Really hope you give this a try! Enjoy!