Recipe Credit by Farzana Kumandan  @Sprinklesandspicect

INGREDIENTS

For the Pudding:

• 200g pitted Dates
• 250ml Boiling Water
• 5ml Bicarbonate of soda
• 160g Sugar
• 75g Butter
• 3 eggs
• 5ml Vanilla Essence
• 225g Cake Flour
• 10ml Baking powder.

For the Toffee Sauce:

• 200g Brown sugar
• 50g Butter
• 250ml Milk
• 20ml Corn flour
• 5ml Custard Powder
• 5ml Caramel essence

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Place dates, boiling water and bicarb in a bowl and stir, allow to rest. Cream the sugar and butter until you have a light and creamy batter. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Sift in the flour and baking powder along with the date mixture. Mix well to combine. Pour into a greased dish and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

For the sauce, heat the sugar and butter in a saucepan. Boil until Caramel in color. Mix 50ml of the milk with the corn flour and custard to make a slurry. Add the remaining 200ml milk into the Caramel, taking care as it is extremely hot and will bubble fiercely. Add the slurry and cook until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the Caramel essence and mix through. Pour the hot sauce over the hot Date Pudding and let rest for 5 mins. Serve warm.

[Picture: Farzana Kumandan]