Ingredients

Method

Preheat the oven 180ºc /350ºF

Chop the dates and place them in a bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and vanilla and pour the boiling water over them and leave to soak.

With a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, beating until the butter has gone lighter in colour and the mixture looks soft and creamy.

Crack the eggs into a jug and beat them. Gradually pour a little egg at a time into the creamed butter mixture, mixing well each time.

Very carefully fold in the flour and then the date and water mixture. The mixture will seam very wet but that’s fine. That is what makes them light and airy.

Divide the mixture in to your buttered pudding basins or ramekins and place on a baking tray .

Place the baking tray in the oven for 23-25 minutes.

When cooked, leave to cool in their basins until they are cool enough to handle then slide a knife around the edges to release them from their moulds . If they have risen too much and the surface is not even, trim them with a knife so that they sit flat on the plate when inverted. Place them into individual bowls or onto a platter.

Make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and gently heating until all the sugar has dissolved and the sauce looks thick and luscious.

Pour some sauce over the puddings and serve with Vanilla Ice Cream.

These puddings freeze beautifully and re heat in the microwave, so you can have them in your freezer all pre prepared for your next dinner party when all you will have to do is warm the sauce.