Date Sponge Pudding with Dark Muscovado Toffee Sauce

What you need

• 200 g (7 oz) pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 250 ml (1 cup) boiling water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 60 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 120 g (2/3 cup) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175 g (1 1/3 cups) self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 100 g (7 tbsp) salted butter, for the sauce
• 150 g (3/4 cup) dark muscovado sugar, for the sauce
• 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream, for the sauce
• 100 ml (1/3 cup) pouring cream, cold, to serve

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) and line a 20 cm (8 in) square baking dish with baking paper.

2. 2

   Put the dates in a bowl, pour the boiling water over them and stir in the baking soda. Leave until lukewarm and soft, 15 min.

3. 3

   Beat the unsalted butter with the light brown sugar until pale and fluffy, 2-3 min.

4. 4

   Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.

5. 5

   Fold in the flour and salt, then stir in the dates with all their liquid. The batter will be loose.

6. 6

   Scrape the batter into the dish and bake until risen and springy, 30-35 min. A skewer in the middle should come out clean.

7. 7

   While it bakes, melt the salted butter with the dark muscovado sugar and heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

8. 8

   Let the sauce bubble gently until thick enough to coat a spoon, 3-4 min.

9. 9

   Pour about a third of the sauce over the hot pudding and set it under a hot grill (broiler) until bubbling, 2-3 min. Watch it closely.

10. 10

    Cut the pudding into squares and serve with the remaining warm sauce and a pour of cold cream.

Imported from manilaspoon.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.