Baking
57 recipes
"What more can I say... The way to a man's heart..."– Lisa Gunthorpe.
I would have to agree with Lisa; a lot of men love this dessert! Even if they are full to the brim they will order it if it is on the menu and squeeze it in.
I think it’s the butterscotch sauce that oozes all over the cake and soaks in making it all “sticky”. Then blends into the cream, with a hit of nostalgia in the aroma and every bite.
This is a fool-proof version, and I like making individual muffin sizes as it freezes well and reheats beautifully. For a crowd you can make one big cake too.
Never fails to make a crowd happy.
Serves 6 – 8. V. Freezes well without the sauce.
Pictured: Stick Date Pudding, small muffin size
Ingredients
- 175g pitted and chopped dates*
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 300ml boiling water
- 60g softened butter
- ¾ cup castor sugar
- 2 lightly beaten eggs
- 1 ½ cups self-raising flour, sifted
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Sauce-
- 125g unsalted butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 200ml cream
- *alternative you can use dried apricots or figs
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line an 18cm square cake tin or six small pudding molds.
Place dates in a bowl, add bicarbonate of soda and pour boiling water over. Set aside.
Beat butter and sugar til pale and fluffy; add eggs bit by bit, beating well after each addition.
Fold in self-raising flour, then dates and their juice, and vanilla.
This will be a wet mixture.
Pour into tin and bake for 35 - 40 minutes for one large cake, or 20 – 25 minutes if making 6 individual cakes - bake til risen and skewer comes out clean.
Meanwhile make sauce - Put all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
When pudding is cooked, pour into an ovenproof dish, pour some sauce over and place back in the oven for 5 mins, or til golden and bubbling.
Cut into squares and serve with remaining sauce, plus cream or ice cream.
Can be made in advance and reheated in the oven to serve. Can also serve leftovers cold with tea or coffee.
Dietary preferences
- Vegetarian
