Walnut stuffed Chocolate Dipped Dates and an Afternoon Tea in the Orchard

Walnut stuffed Chocolate Dipped Dates and an Afternoon Tea in the Orchard. Naturally sweet dates are stuffed with walnuts and then dipped in melted chocolate. Simple, quick to make and delightful to eat, these stuffed dates were part of our Afternoon Tea in the orchard. They can be served as an appetizer, dessert, or afternoon pick me up. This easy recipe is one you'll want to keep in your repertoire for any occasion.

Afternoon Tea in the Orchard

The temperatures are cooling down, the colors are just starting to change, and the light coming from the setting sun makes everything look magical. To welcome a new season, the harvest season, we decide to have an Afternoon Tea Picnic in the Orchard with our picnic friends Margaret and Raymond KitchenFrau, under the arbor surmounted by beautiful vine leaves that create the perfect cozy setting.

An Afternoon Tea Picnic

Lately, we are truly enjoying our Afternoon tea picnics with our friends. You might remember last year's Spring Afternoon Tea Picnic and our latest Summer Afternoon Tea. Setting the mood of all our picnics is very important for us. The theme of the picnic, location, the color scheme according to the season, and the type of light, hence time of day we want our picnics to happen. For this Afternoon Tea in the Orchard, we decided to go with the muted yet rich color of Fall, matching the background of nature and the colors of the setting sun: beige, brown, green, orange, and burgundy red.

For any picnic, we plan all the embellishments such as: tablecloths, napkins and napkin holders, plates, cutlery, glasses, serving platters, tea pot and tea cups, water jug, flowers, candles and holders, vases. Once that is all decided, the fun begins, putting it all together. We love this part as we all chip in and give our opinions about how we feel about the setting as it begins to come together.

The set up

Myself and Margaret are usually hard at work, while Loreto is behind the camera and helping Raymond who is busy grabbing pots, tables, the heavy stuff. The last to go on the table is the food, beautifully and strategically placed for ease of serving. In the end, it is like a symphony of movement that finally stops, and we all stand and look at what we created with a sigh, and a feeling of accomplishment. Time for the last photographs of the set up, and we get to sit and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Dessert Table

As a matter of fact, we like to have a separate side table all dressed up with matching colors and usually a bouquet of flowers, a 'signature' of all our picnics and that puts a finishing touch. On the side table of our Afternoon Tea in the Orchard we placed a crystal vase with seasonal flowers and small brunches of crab apples, a tealight candle, the Apple Cake with a bowl of Maple Ginger Cashew Cream, and the Chocolate Covered Stuffed Dates (recipe at the bottom of the post).

As usual, the centre of attention of our Afternoon Tea was the three tier stand, where, according to tradition, savoury items are to be placed on the bottom tier, scones on the middle tier, and sweets on the top tier.

Other finger foods and sweets were arranged on a cake stand and single tiers. A fruit bowl with gorgeous seasonal fruit towered above the table.

The savoury items of an Afternoon Tea

Among the savoury items we had two types of sandwiches: turkey sliders on homemade buns with arugula, pickled red cabbage & sage mayonnaise; peanut butter & jam sandwiches; and fresh apple slices with Cheddar, honey and black pepper. Traditionally, you can cut the sandwich in small triangles, squares, or rectangular finger shapes. For the buns, choose small round or oval. Remember that most of the items on the menu have to be finger foods.

It's not an Afternoon Tea without scones

British scones are round instead of triangular. Traditional English scones are usually plain, or they can have raisins or currants and in this case they are called fruit scones. Here, we made fruit scones with dried cranberries. They were served with orange marmalade and crème fraiche, the perfect accompaniment to the delicate crumbly texture.

The Sweets

For this Afternoon Tea in the Orchard we went all out and had a plethora of sweets to choose from: butter pecan bars; pumpkin cheesecake squares; apple cake with maple ginger cashew Cream; and Chocolate Covered Stuffed Dates. You can choose to make one or two from our menu, also, if you want to get store bought, that works, too.

Since it was and Afternoon Tea in the Orchard, we had to have an apple cake. This is and Italian style cake, very simple, made with olive oil and lots of apples. It is usually baked in a bigger pan and it's therefore shorter in profile. However, for this Afternoon Tea we wanted it to stand taller and proudon a cake stand. It was surrounded by clusters of small apples for a beautiful visual presentation.

How to make Walnut stuffed Chocolate Dipped Dates

Making these walnut stuffed chocolate dipped dates could not be easier! With only three ingredients: pitted dates, walnuts and semi sweet chocolate chips, they come together quickly and with minimal cleanup. Follow the instructions below the photos or check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

After the chocolate has set, you can put them into an airtight container (and for me, bring to the picnic site). Keep them refrigerated to make them less messy to eat (chocolate will start to melt at room temperature). They will stay fresh for two weeks in the refrigerator or in the freezer for up to one month.

I arranged the Walnut stuffed Chocolate Dipped Dates on a beautiful vintage crystal one tier stand. They were the perfect sweet little treat to end our delightful Afternoon Tea.

These Walnut stuffed Chocolate Dipped Dates are super easy to make, with only 3 ingredients, and also gluten and vegan friendly. Not to mention pretty healthy and, of course, totally delicious!

Variations and substitutions

• Substitute walnuts with other nuts like pecans, almonds or pistachios.
• You could add a nut butter or cream cheese to the nut of choice.
• For a savory spin, add a small morsel of blue cheese or creamy goat cheese along with the walnut into the dates and skip the chocolate dipping.

Picnic friends

As usual, our picnics and Afternoon Teas could not be this wonderful without the joint effort of our dear blogger friends Margaret and Raymond Kitchenfrau. Check out Margaret's post with more pictures, recipes, and thoughts of the day.

And most importantly, plan your next picnic and enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors.

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