Mmm Sticky Date anyone?

With Moroccan lamb shanks in the oven and a pop up visit from my brother, I thought I'd make his favourite dessert (well maybe other than trifle) - sticky date pudding. Recipe located, oven on and away we go. A total sugar hit but worth it once in a while. Connor loved it, when I was boxing up some leftovers for Sam he was not impressed - he wanted it all!

Ingredients

For the pudding

250g pitted dates - finely chopped

1 tsp bicarb soda

1 and a 1/2 cups of boiling water

125g of butter - softened

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

1 and 3/4 cups plain flour

1 and 3/4 tsp baking powder

For the sauce

60 g butter

1 cup of brown sugar

300ml of thickened cream

To serve

Double cream or vanilla ice cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place chopped dates and bicarb soda in a bowl, pour the boiling water over them and leave to stand for 20 minutes. Grease and line a deep round tin (about 22cms - I used a 24cm spring form tin).

Sift the flour and the baking soda and set aside in a jug or bowl. Soften butter (I didn't and it was a real pain...) and beat with an electric beater until pale and creamy. Add sugar and vanilla essence and beat until they are smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and then turn the beaters to low and add the date mixture and the sifted flour and baking powder until combined.

Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Check to see if its cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle - if it comes out clean, it's done.

For the sauce (make when you're ready to serve - it only takes a few minutes) melt the butter over a medium heat. Stir in the sugar and the cream until combined. Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for a 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Prick all over the pudding with a skewer and pour half the sauce over the pudding. Allow to stand for a few minutes to let the sauce soak in.

Cut the pudding into wedges and serve with extra sauce and ice cream, cream or both!

#Easydesserts #desserts #winterdesserts #date #sticky #pudding #yum