One particularly cold night, while we were looking over the dessert menu at dinner, my boyfriend decided he wanted a sticky date pudding, which was not on the menu. Following a mad dash in the rain from the restaurant to the car, want turned to need and he went on a rampage to the supermarket in search of a ready-made sticky date pudding. Unfortunately, he went home empty handed that night with an unsatisfied tummy. 

My boyfriend never craves any kind of dessert so I took his suffering very seriously. The next night I made sure I had these little sticky date puddings with caramel sauce ready for dessert. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I love caramel. Inevitably, I love these. 

These are the perfect single serve size. Bake these in tulip-type muffin cases to hold in the caramel sauce. This way you can just grab a couple when you're in need of a sweet, give them a quick zap in the microwave, and you're ready to go. 

from taste

Sticky date puddings:
300g pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup boiling water
125g butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup self raising flour 

Caramel sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla
60g butter

  1. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Line muffin tray with tulip muffin liners. 
  2. Place dates in a bowl and sprinkle the baking soda on top. Pour boiling water over the dates and allow to soak for 20 minutes.
  3. In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.
  4. Beat in eggs, one at a time. 
  5. Add the flour and mix. 
  6. Fold through the date mixture until well combined.
  7. Fill muffin liners with the batter (fill liners near to the top, the muffins don't rise much).
  8. Bake for 20 minutes. 
  9. While the muffins are baking, make the caramel sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a small pot and cook over medium heat. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes. 
  10. Once muffins are done, take out of the oven and pierce with a skewer. Spoon as much of the caramel sauce over the muffins as you can. Let cool for 5 minutes before eating and use any remaining sauce to serve.
  11. If muffins have cooled, heat for 20 seconds in the microwave to allow the caramel to melt back down and muffin to warm.