Sticky Toffee Pudding

Cake Ingredients

• 180g butter or margarine
• 190g dates
• 1 tea bag
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) bicarbonate of soda
• 200ml hot water
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 180g butter or margarine
• 2 eggs
• 180g self-raising flour

Sauce Ingredients

• 150g butter or margarine
• 300ml double cream
• 200g dark brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and grease your baking dish. I used a 20.5cm x 20.5cm baking dish.
2. Chop your dates into small pieces and put them in a bowl. If your dates have stones, remove them.
3. Pour 200ml of boiling water over your dates. Sprinkle over your bicarbonate of soda and add in your tea bag. I love to use Earl Grey. Stir it and leave for approximately 10 minutes until well-soaked.
4. While the dates are soaking, cream together your butter and sugar until pale in colour. Watch this video if you do not know how to do this.
5. Beat your eggs into your mixture and combine with a wooden spoon.
6. After 30 minutes, Remove the teabag from the bowl and tip your dates into a blender. Puree until smooth.
7. Add the date mixture to the butter and sugar and combine. The mixture may look a little curdled at this point, but don’t worry.
8. Sift in your flour and carefully fold it into the mixture. Watch this video to learn how to do this step.
9. Pour your mixture into a greased baking dish and bake in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes. If you insert a fork into the centre and it comes out clean – you’ll know it’s ready.
10. Add all of your toffee ingredients to a saucepan and melt over medium to high heat until lightly bubbling. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
11. When your cake is ready, use a skewer or fork to poke holes in the pudding, and then pour over the toffee sauce while the cake is still hot.
12. Serve with ice cream or double cream!