Sticky Date Delight

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Since moving to the USA I have not have seen Sticky Date Pudding. Back in Australia it’s sold in every café worthy of the name, the frozen deserts section in supermarkets and many restaurants have it on the menu.

Having been craving some sticky date pudding goodness, I made one the other day. It bought back memories of sitting in trendy cafes, drinking cappuccino, enjoying wonderful company, and indulging in the sticky goodness.

Make this if you want to eat something scrumptious and quite frankly healthy. Dates are health food you see. Well it helps me out if I think of it that way. ;)

Sticky Date Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Heat oven to moderate, cook for 55 minutes.

1 ½ cups seeded dried dates, (250g)
1 ¼ cups boiling water (310 ml)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Cooking oil spray
¾ brown sugar, firmly packed (150g)
2 eggs
1 cup self raising flour (150g)

Caramel Sauce
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (200g)
100g butter, chopped
300 ml cream.

Put dates, the water and soda into a bowl of a food processor, place lid on, let mixture stand for 5 minutes.

Grease base and side of a cake pan evenly with cooking oil spray, line base of pan with a round of baking paper.

Add brown sugar and chopped butter to date mixture; process by pulsing, about 5 seconds or until dates are chopped.

Add eggs, then flour; process by pulsing for 5 to 10 seconds until all ingredients are combined/ Scrape any unmixed flour back into the m mixture with a rubber spatula; pulse again to combine ingredients/

Pour pudding mixture into prepared pan. Cook, uncovered, in moderate over 55 minutes. To test if pudding is cooked, gently press the top with two fingers, it should feel firm and appear slightly shrunken from side of pan. Push a skewer through the centre of the pudding to bottom of pan; the skewer should be greasy when withdrawn but free of uncooked mixture. If pudding needs additional cooking, return it to oven for 5 minutes. Once cooked and removed from oven, stand 5 minutes in pan.

Put a wire rack on top of pan, and holding both rack and pan, turn pudding upside down. Remove pan then baking paper. Put a second wire rack on pudding; holding racks together firmly but not digging into pudding, turn so pudding is top side up. Serve pudding hot, cut into wedges, with warm caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce. Place sugar and butter in medium saucepan over high heat; using wooden spoon, stir in the cream. Once butter melts, bring sauce to a boil (to prevent it boiling over, either lower the heat or remove pan from heat for a moment). Stir sauce constantly until completely smooth; serve while hot.