Light Sticky Toffee Pudding

📝 Ingredients

• 180 g pitted Medjool dates (about 10)
• 200 ml boiling water + 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 150 g plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 100 g brown sugar (40 for the cake, 60 for the sauce)
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7.5 g)
• 60 g salted butter (40 for the cake, 15 for the sauce, 5 for the tin)
• 150 ml light single cream, 12% fat

🍴 Utensils

• 20 cm square tin
• Mixing bowl
• Bowl
• Whisk
• Fork
• Small saucepan

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grease the tin with 5 g of butter. Cut the dates into small pieces, put them in the bowl, pour over the boiling water, then add the bicarbonate of soda: the mixture will foam, that's normal. Leave to soak for 10 min.
2. Mash the soaked dates with a fork, along with their water, until you have a coarse purée. A few small pieces may remain: they'll make the cake extra moist. Melt 40 g of butter in the small saucepan over a low heat.
3. In the mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with 40 g of brown sugar and the vanilla sugar for 1 min, until slightly frothy. Add the cooled melted butter and whisk for a few more seconds. Rinse and dry the small saucepan.
4. Mix the flour and baking powder, then whisk them in in two batches, without overworking the batter. Finally add the date purée and mix just enough to get a smooth batter: it's quite runny, that's normal.
5. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 25 to 30 min, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Don't open the oven during the first 20 minutes, or the cake will sink.
6. While it bakes, make the sauce: melt 60 g of brown sugar with 15 g of butter in the small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring, until the mixture bubbles and smells of caramel, about 3 min.
7. Pour in the cream while stirring, watching out for splashes, then simmer for 3 to 4 min over a low heat, until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. It will keep thickening as it cools.
8. As soon as it comes out of the oven, prick the cake all over with the fork and pour half the hot sauce over it so it soaks in. Leave to rest for 5 min, cut into 6 squares and serve warm, topped with the rest of the sauce.