Recipe: Stuffed Dates (with assorted fillings - blue cheese, goat cheese and marzipan)

STUFFED DATES

"Medjool dates are large and meltingly sweet. It's so easy to turn them into an elegant dessert that it's almost cheating. Use three contrasting mixtures to stuff the dates - blue cheese-almond, goat cheese-Grand Marnier-chocolate, and marzipan-pistachio - and you'll experience a pleasant panoply of flavor combinations along the savory-to-sweet spectrum."

12 medjool dates
4 teaspoons Point Reyes blue cheese
4 toasted, salted whole almonds
2 tablespoons goat cheese
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
1/4 teaspoon powdered sugar plus additional (for sprinkling on dates)
2 teaspoons chopped bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons marzipan
2 teaspoons chopped, toasted pistachio nuts plus extra chopped nuts (for dipping dates)
Sugar

Make a cut along the side but not through the ends of the date, just large enough to remove the pit. Open up the pocket in the dates so they are ready to fill.

FOR DATES STUFFED WITH BLUE CHEESE:
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the blue cheese into each of four dates. Press an almond into the tops of each of four dates and set aside.

FOR GOAT CHEESE DATES:
Blend the goat cheese with the Grand Marnier until smooth. Stir in one-fourth teaspoon powdered sugar and the chopped chocolate. Divide the mixture into each of four dates. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

FOR MARZIPAN DATES:
Blend together the marzipan and toasted pistachio nuts. Divide the filling into each of four dates. Dip the top of the dates in chopped pistachio nuts then roll dates in sugar.

Makes 4 servings
Source: Susan LaTempa and Donna Deane to the Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2007