Impress friends and family with a mouth-watering dessert with only 10 minutes prep! This decadent sticky date pudding is rich, gooey, and downright irresistible. Just mix, bake and serve!
Quickly mix dates and bicarb soda in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the top and leave to stand for a few minutes to soften.
1 ¾ cup dates, 1 tsp bicarb soda, 1 cup boiling water
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
3 tbsp butter, ¾ cup caster sugar, 2 eggs
Fold in self raising flour with a metal spoon until smooth and just combined.
1 cup self raising flour
Add the date liquid, stir well and pour batter into a lightly buttered or lined 22 x 22 cm / 9 x 9 inch square cake tin. Then, press the dates gently into the batter.
Pop into the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the cake shrinks away from the sides and the top goes nice and brown.
For the hot toffee sauce
While the pudding is cooking in the oven, combine the brown sugar, thickened cream / heavy cream, butter and vanilla essence in a small saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer on medium low and cook for a few minutes before switching off the heat.
1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup thickened cream / heavy cream, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla essence
To serve, slice into 9 squares and place in the centre of small warmed plates. Add an optional scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, then pour the hot toffee sauce over the top of the pudding.