Sticky date pud

As the evening temperatures drop well into the single digits, my thoughts turn to pudding after a meal more than any other time of year. Comforting and warming, pudding also fills the house with the sweet scent of baking. It's as good a reason as any to have someone over and put the jug on..

This is a take on Nigella's sticky date pudding. It's a sort of self saucing version and since we are most keen on self saucing puds, I thought this would be interesting to try.

While not bad, not bad at all actually, I think I prefer to keep with my old recipe and make a separate sauce. Although I'll happily return to this when there is a crowd around and it will all be eaten the day it is made. The thing about the self saucing puds is that, while it still tastes good, the sauce soaks into any leftover cake.

"What's the problem with that??" I hear you ask..

Hmm.. Nothing, nothing at all actually.

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Self-saucing sticky date pud.
Adapted from Nigella Bites.

Cake:

100g dark brown sugar (the higher the molasses content the better)
175g self raising flour
125mL milk
1 size 7 egg (large)
50g butter, melted
1 tsp good vanilla extract
180g dates, pitted and chopped

Sauce:

200g dark brown sugar
1 heaped Tbsp butter
500mL boiling water

Combine sugar and flour in a medium bowl. Measure milk and add egg, vanilla and melted butter. Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients until just coming together and fold in the dates gently.

Spoon the mixture into a buttered 1.5L capacity baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the cake batter and dot with the remaining butter. Pour the boiling water over the lot and carefully place in the oven.

Bake at 190C for about 45 minutes. Cake will be golden and springy when done. Allow to cool slightly and serve with ice cream or whipped cream if desired. A dollop of mascarpone or crème fraîche wouldn't be bad either.