- Hearty & Grounding
- Desserts
- Vegetarian
- Prep 20 min
- Cook 45 min
- Serves 8
Dates make the sponge moist and dark, and the toffee sauce takes five minutes. Serve it very hot, with cold cream or ice cream on the side.
Ingredients
For the pudding
- 200 g pitted dates, chopped
- 250 ml boiling water
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 75 g soft butter
- 150 g dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the toffee sauce
- 100 g butter
- 150 g dark brown sugar
- 200 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- A pinch of salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C and grease a 20 cm square baking dish.
- Put the dates in a bowl, pour over the boiling water, add the bicarbonate of soda and leave for 10 minutes.
- Beat the butter and sugar until pale, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Fold in the flour and vanilla, then stir in the dates with all their liquid to a loose batter.
- Pour into the dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until risen and a skewer comes out clean.
- For the sauce, melt the butter and sugar in a pan, add the cream, treacle and salt, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until glossy.
- Pour half the sauce over the hot pudding, cut into squares and serve with the rest of the sauce.
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