This is originally Paul Hollywood’s recipe, with a few changes to our liking. He uses macadamia nuts, but we have a few people with nut allergies so had to give those a miss. He also uses soft dark brown sugar, whereas we prefer a mix of dark & light. We also adjusted the sauce recipe as everyone always asks for more sauce. You can never have enough sauce!

Ingredients

• 175 g dates (stoned & chopped)
• 200 ml boiling water
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 75 g butter
• 100 g light brown sugar
• 50 g dark brown sugar
• 175 g sifted self raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsps fudge pieces
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Sticky toffee sauce:

• 150 g butter
• 112 g light brown sugar
• 112g dark brown sugar
• 225 ml double cream

Method:

1. Recite Bismillah.
2. In a bowl, pour the boiling water over the dates.
3. Stir in the bicarbonate soda.
4. Meanwhile in another large bowl, cream together butter & sugar till light & fluffy.
5. Add the eggs & beat.
6. Then fold in the flour.
7. Stir in the dates with the water & fudge pieces.
8. Cover the bowl well with cling film & place in the fridge.
9. 30 mins before serving, remove the bowl from the fridge & stir in the baking powder
10. Preheat oven to 180c. (Oven temperatures may vary from 170-180).
11. Grease a 10″ by 9″ oven tray.
12. Bake for 20-25 mins or until springy to touch.
13. Meanwhile prepare the sauce by melting all the ingredients together together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil & let it bubble on low heat for 3-4 mins or until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. (You can do this in advance too & just reheat before serving).
14. Poke holes all over the pudding with a fork.
15. Pour half the sauce all over the pudding.
16. Serve immediately with ice cream & remaining sauce. Enjoy!