Gooey date and stem ginger pudding

Serves 6

You will need:

• 75g pitted dates, chopped

• 85g butter

• 1 egg

• 250ml milk

• 40g stem ginger from a jar, chopped very finely

• 125g flour

• 1½ teaspoons baking powder

• 125g dark brown sugar

• Pinch of salt

For the syrup, you will need:

• 125g dark brown sugar

• 150ml boiling water

• 50g butter

• 2 tablespoons stem ginger syrup from the jar

To serve, you will need:

• Softly whipped cream or custard

1 You’ll also neeed a 1-litre capacity pie dish. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas 4. Place the chopped dates in a small saucepan with the butter. Place the saucepan on a medium heat and allow the butter to melt, then take the pot off the heat.

2 Whisk the egg in a bowl, then add the milk, the butter and date mixture, and the finely chopped stem ginger.

3 Put the flour, the baking powder, the dark brown sugar and the pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well, then make a well in the centre. Pour in the egg, milk, butter, date and ginger mixture, and stir to mix everything together. Pour into the pie dish.

4 Next, make the syrup. Put the dark brown sugar, the boiling water, the butter and the stem ginger syrup into a saucepan. Place the saucepan on a high heat and bring it to the boil, stirring to melt the butter. As soon as it comes to a rolling boil, pour it evenly over the batter in the pie dish and place it in the preheated oven.

5 Bake the pudding for 40-45 minutes until it is just set in the centre.

6 Remove the pudding from the oven, allow it to cool very slightly, then serve it with softly whipped cream or custard.