Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients

• 200 g medjool dates, stoned and chopped
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200 g butter (75 g for the sponge, 125 g for the sauce)
• 350 g dark brown sugar (150 g sponge, 200 g sauce)
• 2 eggs
• 175 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300 ml double cream

Method

1. Soak the dates

   Pour 250 ml boiling water over the dates, stir in the bicarb and leave for fifteen minutes. The bicarb breaks the dates down into the dark paste that gives the sponge its colour and stickiness.

   15 min

2. Cream

   Beat 75 g of the butter with 150 g of the sugar until light.

3. Build the batter

   Beat in the eggs one at a time, then fold in the flour, vanilla and the date mixture with its liquid. It will look alarmingly wet — that is correct.

4. Bake

   Pour into a lined 20 x 25 cm tin and bake at 180°C until risen and springy.

   35 min

5. Make the toffee sauce

   Melt the remaining butter and sugar together, then stir in the cream and simmer for three minutes until glossy and thickened.

   5 min

6. Soak and serve

   Prick the warm sponge all over and pour a third of the sauce over it, letting it sink in. Serve with the rest hot alongside.