Sticky Date Pudding With Wicked Toffee Sauce Annabel Langbein Recipe 445

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180˚C. Grease the sides of a 25cm cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Place dates, water and baking soda in a pot large enough to hold the entire mixture and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and mash with a potato masher to break up the dates. Stir in chopped butter and mix until butter is melted. Mix in sugar and eggs then fold in flour, vanilla and ginger. Arrange pear slices in a concentric circle around the base of the tin, placing a few slices in the centre. Pour batter over the top and smooth evenly to fully cover the pears. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand for at least 10 minutes before turning upside down onto a serving platter and removing the baking paper. Serve with warm Wicked Toffee Sauce. This dessert keeps well for a day or two and can be frozen. Thaw and serve warm - heat it in the oven for 10 minutes or microwave it for 2-3 minutes. Wicked Toffee Sauce Place ½ cup water in a saucepan. Add 2 cups caster sugar and place over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and comes to the boil, swirling the pot now and then. Boil without stirring until mixture turns a golden caramel colour - approximately 8-10 minutes. (Do not be tempted to stir the mixture as this could cause it to crystallise. To prevent it from crystallising, you can run a wet brush around the sides of the pot, allowing the excess water to run into the sugar mixture.) Remove from heat, add 2 cups cream and 2 tsp vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge and reheated. Makes 3 cups.

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:

• 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.