Name: Sticky date & ginger pudding
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: 85g butter plus extra for greasing; 200g medjool dates pitted and roughly chopped; 200ml milk; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 140g self-raising flour; 2 tsp ground ginger; 85g dark muscovado sugar; 2 egg beaten; 2 balls stem ginger chopped; 100g dark muscovado sugar; 3 tbsp syrup from the ginger jar

85g butter
plus extra for greasing
200g medjool dates
pitted and roughly chopped
200ml milk
1 tsp vanilla
essence
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g self-raising flour
2 tsp ground ginger
85g dark muscovado sugar
2 egg
beaten
2 balls stem ginger
chopped

For the sauce

100g dark muscovado sugar
3 tbsp syrup
from the ginger jar

Method

step 1
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Lightly grease a deep 2-litre (about 28 x 20cm) oval baking dish. Tip the dates into a pan, pour over the milk and bring up to scalding point. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla essence and bicarbonate of soda, then leave to one side. Sift the flour and ginger into a bowl, then add the sugar, butter and eggs. Beat with an electric whisk for about 5 mins. Fold in the date mixture and stem ginger, then pour into the baking dish.
step 2
For the sauce, sprinkle the sugar over the pudding batter, then drizzle with the syrup. Pour 250ml boiling water over (do not stir), then bake for 40-45 mins until the pudding is firm to the touch. Serve spoonfuls of the pudding with a generous helping of syrupy sauce from the bottom of the dish. Great with vanilla ice cream or pouring cream.