“Sweet, salty, and just enough heat to keep you coming back for more” could be a pickup line, but it’s actually the slogan for the new Somerville company Hot Dates. The dates are Medjool dates stuffed with spicy sunflower butter and then covered in Callebaut dark chocolate and a sprinkle of sea salt. Robbie Madfis recently launched the product from his own commercial kitchen. “People do a double-take when they hear the name,” he says. Nevertheless, the chocolate dates deliver a delicious natural sweetness and some spice and fire from cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne that flavors the creamy sunflower butter interior. Madfis has had experience in several Boston-area restaurant kitchens and learned to work with confections at Mariposa Bakery in Cambridge before starting Hot Dates. They are bite size but you’ll want to make them last for two or three. ($8 to $10 for 3 ounces, about 6 to 9 pieces). Available at Bacco’s Wine + Cheese, 31 St., James Ave., Boston, 617-574-1751; Curd & Co., 288 Washington St. Brookline, 617-879-0565; Pemberton Farms, 2225 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, 617- 491-2244; Davis Squared, 409 Highland Ave. Somerville, 617-666-6700, or at www.hotdatekitchen.com. A percentage of online sales are donated to the nonprofit More Than Words.
ANN TRIEGER KURLAND
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Ann Trieger Kurland can be reached at anntrieger@gmail.com.