Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients:

225g (1/2 lb) dates
175ml (2/3 cup) boiling water
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g (1/2 cup less 2 tbsp) butter
140g (3/4 cup) Demerara sugar
2 eggs
175g (1 ½ cups) self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100ml (1/2 cup less 1 tbsp) milk
2 tbsp black treacle (molasses)

Butterscotch Sauce
175g (1 cup less 2 tbsp) light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp butter
225ml (1 cup less 1 tbsp) double (heavy) cream
1 tbsp black treacle (molasses)

Method:

Heat the oven to 180°C (360F). Pit the dates and chop into small pieces. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and pour over the boiling water. Set aside for 30 minutes, then mash with a fork before stirring in the vanilla extract.

Cream together the butter and Demerara sugar until soft and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition. Now mix in the 2 tbsp treacle.

Sift over ½ of the flour and gently fold through. Add half of the milk and fold through followed by another one third of flour, the remainder of the milk and the remainder of the flour, gently folding the ingredients together after each addition
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In the majority of cases, the mixture may appear curdled at some point in this process; don’t fret about this though it will still turn out perfectly.

180ml (2/3 cup) pudding bases are ideal for cooking individual puddings. Butter them well, then coat with 2 tbsp flour. Grease the next basin and pour the excess out of the first basin and into the second. Make sure to twist the basins so that every part is coated in flour (this is what stops the pudding from sticking).

As you want each pudding to cook evenly and equally it’s actually best to weigh them to ensure this. Weigh the greased and floured basins, fill then roughly half way with the batter and then weight them again, equal them out and keep adding batter until all the batter is used up. (Of course, if you are confident in your measuring, you can do this by eye.)

Sit the individual puddings them on a baking, transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake until golden (about 20-25 minutes). They should be nicely risen and a cocktail stick or skewer inserted in the centre should emerge cleanly.

Meanwhile prepare the toffee sauce. Combine the sugar, butter, half of the cream and the black treacle into a small saucepan and cook gently over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved increase the heat and simmer the sauce for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the remainder of the cream.

When the puddings are cooked, remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly then carefully invert into pudding bowls, cover them in the sauce and serve.

You can make the puddings the day before, just re-heat in a microwave on full power for 60 seconds.