Recipe - Sticky Date Pudding

8 ounce Pitted dates; chopped
Water
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 Stick butter
5 tablespoon Sugar
2 Eggs
1 One fourth cup Flour
One half teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 Three fourths tablespoon Baking powder
1 Stick butter
One fourth cup Heavy cream
One half cup Brown sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Heavy cream for whipping

From: SLD steedat@GMX1.COM

Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 20:32:58 +0000
I found the following recipe in the New York Times this past December. My
partner and I have gotten addicted to this dessert, and we have eaten many
of them. Guests have also raved about it. Don't let the name "pudding"
scare you; this is a dense vanilla cake with toffee sauce and whipped cream
(and don't skimp!), and the dates give an irresistable texture. Apparently,
this is all the rage in Australia, much the way Tiramisu took over the
dessert market in the US.

Preheat oven to 350

Butter a 9inch, highsided baking pan (I use a casserole dish).

Place the dates in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil.
Reduce to simmer and cook for three minutes. Remove from heat and add
baking soda (this will foam up). Set aside.

In a bowl, cream one stick of butter, sugar and eggs, adding the eggs one
at a time. Gently fold in the flour, the salt and 1 tsp. vanilla. Slowly
stir in the baking powder and .25 cup of the date cooking liquid (discard
the rest), until the cake mixture resembles thick pancake batter. Stir in
the dates. Bake for 3040 minutes, or until cooked in the center. Remove
from baking pan.

While the cake is baking, make the sauce by combining 1 stick butter, the
.25 cup heavy cream, the brown sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla. Bring to a boil;
reduce to simmer and cook for three minutes.

To serve, drizzle some of the sauce over the cake as it is cooling. Serve
the rest of the sauce separately. Garnish with whipped cream.

EATL Digest 29 June 1996

From the EATL recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive,
http://www.erols.com/hosey.