Self-saucing sticky toffee chocolate pudding

Sticky toffee pudding is a dessert well-loved by the nation and rightly so. Now, think of that sticky date, caramel-like, fudgy sponge, but add in a generous helping of chocolate chunks and lashings of chocolate sauce for the ultimate comforting dessert. You don’t even have to make the sauce separately, so this is ideal for late-night sweet cravings.

SERVES 8 10 PREP 20 mins plus 30 mins soaking COOK 40 mins EASY V

200g pitted medjool dates

100g unsalted butter, softened,

plus extra for the dish

75g demerara sugar

75g dark brown soft sugar

2 large eggs

250g plain lour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp baking powder

100g dark chocolate,

roughly chopped vanilla ice cream or custard, to serve

For the sauce

200ml double cream

75g unsalted butter, cubed

200g dark brown soft sugar

30g cocoa powder

1 Put the dates in a bowl and pour in 300ml boiling water. Leave to soak for 30 mins. Meanwhile, make the sauce by tipping all the ingredients, a big pinch of salt and 300ml boiling water into a pan, then whisk over a medium heat and simmer for 2 mins. Pour into a jug and leave to cool slightly. Once the dates are soaked, use a hand blender to blitz the dates and water to a smooth paste. Leave to cool slightly. Butter a deep 35 x 25cm dish.

2 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Beat together the butter and sugar for 3 mins until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Fold in the flour, bicarb and baking powder along with a pinch of salt. Once combined, mix in the date purée, then fold in the dark chocolate. Pour the sponge batter into the prepared dish and spread out evenly using the back of a spoon. Pour the chocolate sauce evenly over the top.

3 Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins until risen, then leave to rest for 2 mins. Serve warm with a big scoop of ice cream or warm custard. PER SERVING (10) 604 kcals • fat 32g • saturates 19g • carbs 72g • sugars 50g • ibre 4g • protein 7g • salt 0.7g