Sticky date pudding with caramel rum sauce

My darling partner often has to watch as I whip up some baking and trot off somewhere with it (usually work), only to return with crumbs. So when I was musing about what I could bake on a relaxing Sunday afternoon and he suggested sticky date pudding, I couldn't disagree. I had a craving for caramel and wanted to experiment with making rum caramel. And what goes more perfectly with sticky date pudding than caramel sauce!

I have a gorgeous sticky date pudding recipe, it really is the best. Never fail, deliciously moist and moreish. It's one of those fantastic recipes that I have cut out of a newspaper many years ago and sellotaped into a recipe notebook. I return to it time and again.

I like making them as little individual cakes - using a giant muffin tin.

1 cup of pitted dates, chopped
1 cup hot water
50g butter
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs

Pop the dates and water into a microwave bowl and microwave for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the butter and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda and spices into a bowl and stir in the brown sugar.

Add the eggs to the cooled date mixture and mix well. Fold in the dry mixture.

Pour into muffin tins or a 23cm cake tin and bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes for the muffins or 30 minutes for the cake. Leave them to stand for 5 minutes or so before you turn them out - this helps them keep their shape. They are best served warm - they will heat beautifully in the microwave.

This time I made it as a cake, just cos.

I smothered it in rum caramel sauce, mmmm. I just made a simple caramel (a cheat's caramel, not a melt sugar and make sure you don't burn it caramel) and added a good slosh of rum. I love rum. There are tons of recipes online for easy caramel sauce, I would recommend on like this.

You could add sultanas to this recipe if they are your thing, just use a few less dates and make sure you soak them or you will end up with a dry cake.

Yummo