This is a delicious and super sweet sticky pudding. It’s very important to finely chop the dates before soaking to obtain a smooth consistency. This recipe is for a 20 cm (8in) round tin.
Ingredients
Serves: 8
- 225g chopped dates
- 300ml hot tea
- 110g butter
- 175g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 250g plain flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules
For hot toffee sauce
- 110g butter
- 175g dark brown soft sugar
- 110g granulated sugar
- 300g golden syrup
- 250ml single cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
Prep:30min › Cook: 1hr30min › Ready in: 2hr
- Chop dates finely and soak in tea for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Prepare and line a 20cm (8 in) round cake tin.
- Cream butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture.
- Add bicarbonate of soda, vanilla and espresso to the dates and tea. Combine both mixtures to produce a loose soft dropping consistency.
- Turn into the prepared tin and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until skewer comes out clean.
To make the toffee sauce:
- Put the butter, sugars and golden syrup into a heavy based saucepan and melt gently on a low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the cream and vanilla extract. Return to heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until sauce is smooth.
- Pour a little sauce onto a serving dish. Place a portion of the pudding on top and pour over more sauce.
- Pour remaining sauce into a jug to serve, along with softly whipped cream.