(Serves 6-9)

Ingredients for Pudding

4oz Chopped Dates

7floz Hot Water

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

3oz Butter

5oz Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

6oz Self Raising Flour

Ingredients for Sauce

3oz Butter

6oz Dark Muscavado Sugar

4floz Double Cream

Method

  1. Mix the dates, bicarbonate of soda and hot water together in a bowl and leave to soak
  2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar
  3. Add one egg at a time, beating the mixture between each addition
  4. Blitz the date mixture in a food processor or smoothie blender
  5. Slowly add date mixture to the creamed butter, sugar and egg mix
  6. Sift in the flour, folding it in carefully each time
  7. Leave to sit once all the flour folded into the mix
  8. Line a square cake tin with some baking paper and grease with butter
  9. Return to your cake mix and continue to fold the mixture for a few minutes, getting as much air into the mix as possible
  10. Pour into tin and bake for 25 minutes
  11. Once out of the oven leave to cool while you make the sauce!
  12. Melt the butter in a thick bottomed saucepan
  13. Add the dark muscavado sugar and mix until there are hardly any lumps left
  14. Add the cream, mix in, and bring to the boil
  15. Cut a square of your cake, pour over some of the sauce, and enjoy!

Tips

Don’t be put off of the appearance of the mix mid-way through; it does get better!

When you take it out of the oven, test it by gently pushing on the top. If it springs back up it is ready; if it feels quite airy, it needs another 5 minutes in the oven.

Add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top for a slightly lighter approach.