Spiced apple sticky toffee puddings

You can make these individual puddings with pear instead of apple or a few tablespoons of leftover mincemeat, if you like. Serve with thick cream or scoops of vanilla ice cream.

SERVES 6 PREP 20 mins COOK 30 mins EASY V

100g butter, plus extra for the tins

250g pitted dates, chopped

4 tbsp treacle

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g light brown soft sugar

300ml double cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten

200g self-raising flour

1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 Cox apples, peeled, cored and cut into 3cm chunks cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4 and butter six small ovenproof dishes. Put the dates in a heatproof bowl, cover with 150ml boiling water from the kettle and leave to soak for 30 mins.

2 Meanwhile, tip 50g of the butter, half the treacle, the vanilla, 75g of the light brown sugar and the cream into a pan set over a medium heat. Cook for 4-5 mins, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bubble for 3 mins, then whisk in a pinch of salt. Set aside.

3 Beat the remaining butter, treacle and sugar with the eggs, then fold in the flour, cinnamon, bicarb, 1/4 tsp salt, the dates and their soaking liquid, and the apples. Spoon the batter into the prepared dishes and bake for 25-30 mins until risen and firm. Leave to cool for 5 mins.

4 Gently reheat the toffee sauce over a low heat until warm. Prick the warm puddings all over with a skewer and pour over the warm sauce. Serve with cream or scoops of ice cream.

GOOD TO KNOW 1 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 858 kcals • fat 43g • saturates 26g • carbs 106g • sugars 82g • fibre 5g • protein 9g • salt 1.7g