Stephanie Alexander’s Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients

• 170 g dates, stones and chopped
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 60 g unsalted butter’
• 3/4 cup castor sugar or brown suagr
• 2 eggs
• 170 g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Sauce

• 200 g brown sugar
• 1/2 cup thick cream
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 1 vanilla bean, split

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C or ensure baking oven is on. Butter an 18 cm square cake tin. Mix dates and bicarb soda. Pour over water and leave to stand.

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Fold flour in gently, then stir in date mixture and vanilla and pour into prepared tin. Bake in centre of oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool for 5 minutes.

To make the sauce, bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce head and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean. Invert cake onto a baking tray or onto an ovenproof serving plate. Pour a little sauce over warm pudding and return it to oven for 2-3 minutes s sauce soaks in. Cut pudding into squares and pour extra sauce.

Chocolate

Add 100 g chopped bittersweet chocolate before baking.

Small Puddings

Pour batter into individual greased mould or muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes. Pour over sauce and return to oven as for the large pudding.

Recipe by Stephanie Alexander