Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding is a mainstay of British dessert menus and the only option that will give my dear wife, @lizzaturnbull, cause to pause if Banoffee Pie is also available. I'm not generally a dessert person and can't remember the last time I ordered dessert when eating out - too often they are the most underwhelming thing on the menu. But occasionaly an idea will take root and suddenly we're having pudding after Sunday roast.

Well, I suddenly had the thought that I'd never come across a sticky toffee pudding where the dates had been soaked in alcohol, which seemed like an almost criminal oversight. After a little pondering I figured a dark rum would be the best option and so, purchased dates, stoned them, chopped them, and put them in rum.
A few days later, I made the pudding

The batter comes out very loose as the picture shows - I was worried.

But it cooked out lovely and at this point looks lie it'd be a nice cake to have with a cup of tea.

But then, I added the toffee sauce and, well,

and it got served with a nice simple double cream

The only negative comment from my good lady was I should have made extra toffee sauce to pour over at the end. But generally there was a feeling that the rum soaked dates worked well and please could I make that again soon.

So, I'll do that. Though next time I'll use a larger baking pan.

And for anyone else interested in doing so, here's the recipe:

Sponge Recipe
225 g dates (stones removed, chopped fine & soaked in rum for a few days)
75 g unsalted butter
175 g light or dark brown soft sugar
250 g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
75 g black treacle (or golden syrup)
3 medium eggs
125 ml whole milk
*NB for health reasons I had to use a non-dairy ‘butter’, gluten free flour, and oat ‘milk’

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan, and get a baking dish ready - I lined mine with baking paper as shown.
Add the unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, self raising flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and the black treacle/golden syrup into a bowl, and beat until combined - beat as little as possible so as not to over beat it.
Add in the dates, and the milk a little at a time, and mix in until smooth. It'll be a thin mixture, but roll with it!
Pour the mixture into the dish and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Toffee Sauce
75 g unsalted butter
75 g light or dark brown soft sugar
2 tbsp black treacle (or golden syrup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 ml double cream
25ml of the rum used to soak the dates
*NB again I used non-dairy alternatives

Add all your ingredients to a large pan, heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted and incorporated. Bring the sauce to the boil and stir while it thickens.