🇲🇹 Maltese Cuisine

Imqaret

Date Diamonds

Prep Time 45 min
Servings 12
Difficulty Medium
Calories 247 kcal

Crispy diamond-shaped pastries filled with a spiced date paste perfumed with anise and citrus, deep-fried to golden perfection.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Simmer dates with water, orange zest, anise, and honey until soft and paste-like. Mash and cool.
  2. 2 Make pastry: rub butter into flour and salt until crumbly. Add cold water to form a firm dough. Rest 15 min.
  3. 3 Roll pastry thin into a long rectangle. Spread date paste along one edge in a log shape.
  4. 4 Roll pastry over the filling, forming a long tube. Cut into diamond shapes.
  5. 5 Deep-fry at 180°C (350°F) until golden and crispy, about 2-3 min per batch.
  6. 6 Drain on paper towels. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Did You Know?

Imqaret vendors are a beloved sight at every Maltese village festa, frying batches to order in huge pans set up on the streets.