Sticky Date Pudding

With a winter storm raging outside bringing heavy rain, lightning, hail, and strong winds, how comforting it is to serve up some warm sticky date pudding drenched in a silky smooth caramel sauce.  This one is not for the calorie-conscious, with copious amount of butter, brown sugar and thick cream necessary to create the sweet indulgence.  The recipe calls for pitted dates, but I prefer to buy whole dates and pit them myself as they are of better quality.  Being the key ingredient, dates contribute to the stickiness and moisture of the sponge.  Originally an English dessert, it is also called sticky toffee pudding, often made in individual pudding tins.  I find it easier to make a single pudding cake.  Serve pudding with the caramel sauce as well as a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side if you like.

Makes 16 squares

INGREDIENTS

• 250g / 9oz pitted dates, chopped
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1½ cups boiling water
• 125g / 4½ oz unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
• 2 eggs
• 1¾ cups self-raising flour, sifted

For the caramel sauce:

• 60g / 2¼oz unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 300ml / 10fl oz thickened cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

METHOD

1. Grease and line the base of a 20cm square cake pan.
2. Place chopped dates and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.  Pour over boiling water.  Allow to soak for 20 minutes.
3. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl with an electric beater until the mixture is pale and creamy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add date mixture and flour into the egg mixture.  Fold through with a spatula until well combined.
5. Spoon batter into prepared cake pan, smoothing out the top.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for about 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. While the pudding is baking in the oven, make the caramel sauce by combining butter, sugar, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring, until the sauce comes to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes.
8. Pierce the pudding all over with a skewer as soon as it comes out of the oven.  Pour half of the hot caramel sauce over the pudding and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
9. Transfer pudding to a platter.  Cut into squares.  To serve, drizzle each square with some of the remaining sauce.

Tip:  Leftover pudding can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.  Keep the caramel sauce separately in a lidded jar.  Reheat each portion of the pudding on an individual plate, covered, in the microwave oven with spoonfuls of the sauce on top for 20-30 seconds.