Icky Sticky Baked Date Pudding Recipes

Steps:

• Before you do anything else, place the dates and the water into a saucepan over a moderate heat and bring the mixture to a good rolling boil.
• Remove saucepan from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
• Now, allow the date mixture to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
• Set the oven to 180C (350F).
• Grease a muffin tin (I use one that makes 12 muffins) very well.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Still beating, add eggs, one at a time, and beat until the beaters leave a'trail' in the mixture- it should be the consistency of whipped cream.
• Add vanilla and mix briefly to combine.
• Sift the flour into this mixture, then fold it in lightly but thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
• When the date mixture is cooled (no hotter than luke warm), tip it into the other ingredients and stir lightly but thoroughly to combine.
• A light hand in mixing at this stage will ensure light puddings.
• Don't worry that the mixture looks very liquid at this stage- that's how it's supposed to look.
• Spoon mixture into muffin cups, filling each cup almost, but not quite, to the top (they don't rise too much).
• Bake on the centre shelf of a preheated 180C (350F) oven for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer, inserted in the centre of a pudding, comes out clean.
• When cooked, remove tray from oven and allow puddings to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing to serve or to cool on wire racks.
• (If puddings stick, run a knife around the outside, and allow puddings to cool a little more before carefully easing out of the pan.) Serve warm with hot caramel sauce.
• TO MAKE THE CARAMEL SAUCE Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over a moderate heat and bring to the boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Serve over warm puddings.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter a 9-inch, high-sided baking pan.
• Place the dates in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for three minutes. Add the baking soda, and set aside.
• In a bowl, cream one stick of butter, sugar and eggs, adding the eggs one at a time. Gently fold in the flour, the salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Slowly stir in the baking powder and 1/4 cup of the date cooking liquid, until the cake mixture resembles thick pancake batter. (Discard the rest.) Stir in the dates. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked in the center.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining a stick of butter, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, the brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer, and cook for three minutes.
• To serve, drizzle some of the sauce over the cake as it is cooling. Serve the rest of the sauce separately. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and chocolate in a small bowl, and set aside.
• Bring the dates and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes, then scrape into a blender, and carefully puree until smooth; set aside.
• Cream 1/4 cup of butter together with the superfine sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Fold in the flour mixture and the date puree until well blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the cream, brown sugar, and 1 cup of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter melts; set aside.
• When the puddings have baked for 25 minutes, remove them from the oven, and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the puddings from the muffin tin, and place them onto a baking sheet. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the sauce over each pudding, then return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more.
• To serve, spoon some of the sauce onto the bottom of a dessert plate, and place a pudding on top. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar, and top with a 1/4 cup scoop of ice cream. Repeat with the remaining date puddings.

Steps:

• Make pudding:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. and butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan (2 inches deep), knocking out excess flour.
• Coarsely chop dates and in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan simmer dates in water, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda. (Mixture will foam.) Let mixture stand 20 minutes.
• While mixture is standing, into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating after each addition until just combined. Add date mixture and with a wooden spoon stir batter until just combined well.
• Pour batter into baking pan and set pan in a larger baking pan. Add enough hot water to larger pan to reach halfway up sides of smaller pan and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove smaller pan from water bath and cool pudding to warm on a rack.
• Make sauce while pudding is cooling:
• In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderate heat and add brown sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, and stir in cream and vanilla. Simmer sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Cool sauce to warm.
• Cut warm pudding into squares. Serve pudding with ice cream and warm sauce.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Lightly grease a deep 2-litre (about 28 x 20cm) oval baking dish. Tip the dates into a pan, pour over the milk and bring up to scalding point. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla essence and bicarbonate of soda, then leave to one side. Sift the flour and ginger into a bowl, then add the sugar, butter and eggs. Beat with an electric whisk for about 5 mins. Fold in the date mixture and stem ginger, then pour into the baking dish.
• For the sauce, sprinkle the sugar over the pudding batter, then drizzle with the syrup. Pour 250ml boiling water over (do not stir), then bake for 40-45 mins until the pudding is firm to the touch. Serve spoonfuls of the pudding with a generous helping of syrupy sauce from the bottom of the dish. Great with vanilla ice cream or pouring cream.

Steps:

• Put the dates, raisins, milk and brandy or rum in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 mins until the fruit is soft and the liquid has been absorbed - don't worry if it looks a little curdled. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, generously butter a 1.2-litre pudding basin.
• To prepare your steamer, place a snugly fitting upturned bowl or saucer in the base of a large, deep saucepan, big enough to hold your pudding basin. Cut out a large circle of baking parchment and one of foil, both 5cm wider than the rim of your pudding basin. Make a sharp pleat down the centre of both, then butter one side of the parchment - this will be your lid. Set aside. Boil the kettle for the steamer.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating again until well combined. Finally, add the flour, mixed spice, orange zest, date mixture and a pinch of salt, and stir everything well with a spatula until there are no visible lumps of flour. Tip the cake mixture into your pudding basin. Cover the bowl with the parchment, butter-side down and pleat on top, then the foil. Push the sides of the lid down, then tie a piece of string securely under the lip of the basin. Use any overhanging string to create a handle to help you lift the pudding.
• Stand the pudding basin on top of the upturned bowl or saucer in the saucepan and fill the pan with enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the basin. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover the pan with a lid and leave to steam for 2½ hrs, topping up with boiling water if the level gets low. Check the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre. If the skewer has any uncooked mixture on it, return it to the pan to steam for another 15 mins, then check again. Once cooked, you can cover the pudding with clean baking parchment and foil and keep for up to a week. Re-steam the pudding for 1 hr before serving.