Date and Peanut Paste

A no-cook confection that comes together in minutes, though two of its four ingredients behave differently now than they did when it was written.

• The salt is the thing to watchA level teaspoon of salt in roughly a cup and a half of paste is aggressive by current standards, and much peanut butter of the period was unsalted or only lightly salted. With a modern salted commercial peanut butter, start with a quarter teaspoon and taste.
• Peanut butter has changedThe recipe expects a stiff, oily grind that stays put. Emulsified supermarket brands are softer and sweeter; if the mixture will not hold a ball, chill it for twenty minutes before rolling. Natural-style peanut butter should be stirred thoroughly first, since separated oil will make the paste slump.
• Food chopperA hand-cranked meat grinder. A food processor does the same work in one pass, but pulse rather than run it, or the dates turn to a single gummy mass that clogs. Chopping the dates coarsely by hand first helps.
• Stoned datesPitted. Dried dates of the era were firmer and drier than the soft Medjools now sold; if yours are very moist, the paste will be looser and stickier and may need a little more sugar to roll.
• Washing the datesWorth doing with older bulk dates, which carried grit and sugar dust. Dry them completely on a towel — residual water makes the paste sticky and shortens the keeping time.
• "Lay on plate to dry"An hour or two uncovered at room temperature sets a firm skin on the sugar coating. Skip it and the confectioner's sugar dissolves into the surface and disappears.
• Yield and keepingRoughly a cup and a half of paste, so the count depends entirely on how large you roll them. Store airtight; they keep a week or more at room temperature and longer refrigerated, though the dates will firm up in the cold.