There’s nothing ‘good for you’ about this pudding. It’s wicked. It’s also a crowd-pleaser, easy to make (you can whip the pudding up after your main course in ten minutes, rejoin your guests and dazzle them with your inner domestic goddessness) and you’ve probably got most of the ingredients on hand already. I do LOVE recipes where “nothing special is required”. Just distance yourself from the butterscotch pudding: It’s addictive.
By the way, in the (unlikely) event that there’s some left, it freezes fine for the next time you want to dazzle your dinner guests.
Ingredients
- 370g pitted dates
- 1 + 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp of freshly grated ginger (I use the stuff out of a jar)
- 90g butter
- 1 c caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 + 1/2 c self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 150g butter
- 1 c brown sugar
- 1/3 c golden syrup
- 3/4 c cream
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees (normal bake). Grease and line the base of a 23cm cake tin.
- Chop dates and place in a small saucepan with 1 + 3/4 cup of water. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Add baking soda and ginger and leave to stand for five minutes.
- Cream butter, sugar and one egg. Beat in the other two eggs one at a time.
- Fold in flour and spice. Add the date mixture to the dry ingredients and stir well until combined.
- Pour into your cake tin and bake for 55 - 60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean (cover with tin foil if the top starts to brown too much).
- While the pudding is baking, make the butterscotch sauce: Rinse out the saucepan you used above for the dates and place all sauce ingredients in. Heat over a low temperature until all the sugar has dissolved. Simmer gently for three minutes, or until thickened slightly.
- Back to the pudding: Once ready, brush the top with butterscotch sauce until it's well glazed. Serve with more sauce and creme fraiche/vanilla ice cream.
By the way: A disclaimer, I have no idea where I got this recipe from. I got it from somewhere and I’ve tweaked it over the years. However, I still can’t claim it’s a Lou original! I feel better having pointed that out!
