"English Sticky Toffee Pudding

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 1 cup / 225g whole Medjool dates
• 3/4 cup / 175ml boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups / 175g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/8 cup / 85g butter, room temperature
• 5/8 cup / 140g demerara sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons black treacle (I used blackstrap molasses)
• 7 tablespoons / 100ml milk
• 1 1/2 cups / 350g white sugar
• 1/2 cup / 100g butter
• 2 1/3 cups / 550ml heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons black treacle (I used blackstrap molasses)

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from wallflourgirl.com

Preparation

Step 1

Place dates in a food process and chop until quite fine. Place them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, submerging them completely. Let soak for 30 minutes, then mash with a fork. Stir in vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C. Oil 10-12 miniature ramekins (I used 2-inch ramekins) and place on a baking sheet.

While dates are soaking, place flour and baking soda in a medium bowl, then set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then mix in treacle/molasses.

Gently fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture with a spatula, then fold in half of the milk, incorporating as well as possible without overbeating. Repeat until remaining flour and milk is used. Stir in mashed dates.

Pour sauce (recipe below) over each of the cakes--for best results, cover soaked cakes with foil in a baking pan and refrigerate for at least a day or two before serving. (Before serving, simply pop the covered pan into an oven preheated to 350 degrees and warm for 15-20 minutes.)

put the sugar and butter for the sauce in a medium saucepan with half the cream. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, until sugar has dissolved. Stir in treacle/molasses, then allow mixture to bubble for 2-3 minutes until it achieves a rich golden toffee color, making sure to stir as needed to prevent sauce from burning. Remove pan from heat and beat in remaining cream.

· The plot thickens. Just add cornstarch.