Sticky Toffee Pudding

INGREDIENTS:

100g chopped dates
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
60g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease bowl
170g soft light brown sugar
1 egg
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Custard to serve

For the toffee sauce:

4 1/2 tbsp double cream
15g unsalted butter
60g soft light or dark brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Make a foil strap by tearing off a longish length of tin foil and folding over several times. Put a couple of cups of boiling water into the slow cooker and put it on high to heat up for approx 30 mins.

Grease a 1.1 litre (2pint) pudding basin. Pour the toffee sauce ingredients in a saucepan & melt together over a low heat, then pour into the greased basin & set aside.

Mix the chopped dates, vanilla essence and bi- carb with 550ml water. In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar then gradually beat in the egg.

Sift the flour & baking powder together, then add to the creamed mixture in small amounts, alternating with additions of the date mixture, stirring each time to combine.

Pour the mixture over the toffee sauce in the pudding basin, cover with baking parchment with a pleat in it and then cover with tin foil with a pleat in it.

Use the foil strap to lower the basin into the slow cooker and then fill the slow cooker pot with boiling water so that it comes about half way up the bowl. Cook on high for approx 2 and a half hours.

Turn out onto a plate and serve with custard. Enjoy!

My children have complained about the dates in this pudding before so I put the dates in a saucepan with half the water, on a low heat and turned them into a smooth purée before adding them to the vanilla essence and bi-carb.