A warm, moist sponge cake made with chopped dates and served with rich butterscotch sauce—comfort dessert at its best.

Scale

Pudding:

250 g pitted dried dates, chopped

250 mL boiling water

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

60 g unsalted butter, softened

150 g brown sugar

2 eggs (approx. 120 g total)

1 tsp vanilla extract

180 g self-raising flour

Butterscotch sauce:

200 mL thickened cream

150 g brown sugar

100 g unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

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1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease your baking dish or molds.

2. In a saucepan, combine chopped dates and boiling water. Stir in bicarbonate of soda and let sit 10 minutes.

3. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well, then stir in vanilla.

5. Fold in the date mixture and self-raising flour until just combined.

6. Pour batter into prepared dish or molds and bake 25–35 minutes.

7. While baking, make sauce by combining cream, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for 3–5 minutes.

8. Poke holes in baked pudding and pour over half the sauce. Let it sit a few minutes before serving with extra sauce and ice cream or cream.

You can make this ahead and reheat before serving. The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and kept refrigerated.

For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free self-raising flour. To make it dairy-free, use plant-based cream and butter.