Sticky Date Pudding

It's an Australian thing. How do I know? Because my American husband never heard of it. And, a American chef has testified to that being English/ Australian.

Sticky Date Pudding is one of those things that gives me fond memory of winter in Australia; Melbourne to be more specific. Warm and sweet; the best thing to caress one's tummy. I remember having sticky date pudding after every dinner. My friend, Ken, was the real champion: he requested frozen sticky date pudding from Sara Lee's as souvenir - a good 8 hours flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur. I tried to make my friends did that but it hasn't happened yet.

I once had a slice of sticky date pudding at this fancy restaurant down in Silom soi Convent. It was way too sweet. So sweet it gave me a headache and nausea. I don't have to tell you how disappointed I was. So my search for sticky date pudding remained at large.

A couple of weeks ago I made this Upside Down Cake. In many ways it's a reminiscent of sticky date pudding - the caramelized sauce. One fine morning, I told my neighbor Alan Cooper I had day-old Upside Down Cake for dinner and that it was much better than fresh. And so the conversation went on to his overweight Australian friend whom is a foodie and good cook, who happened to have mailed him a few recipes with Sticky Date Pudding included!! I insist he should give me a copy of the recipe and so he did.

This recipe is an adaptation of Alan's friend's and this site. I had a lot of expectation for this recipe for all the reasons you can find from above. I literally watched while Adrian was having it for breakfast. There was the expression that one couldn't fake and the verbal approval of "top class". It turned out to be just moist and not overly sweet. I feel proud, relief, happy, sentimental, accomplished - all at the same time. It also makes me wonder how can a restaurant failed so miserably?

If you, like me, don't have self-raising flour and don't necessarily want to buy one, use this following recipe. It works.

For homemade self-raising flour:

• 3/4 C all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients together. May double or triple the amount if more flour is needed.

For the Pudding:

• 250g pitted dates, chopped
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 125g butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups White Wings Self-Raising Flour, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 9" springform pan.
2. Place dates and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Pour over boiling water. Allow to stand for 20 minutes.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a large metal spoon, fold through date mixture and flour until well combined.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared cake pan. Bake for 40 to 50minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn onto a plate.

For Caramel sauce:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 300ml thickened cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 60g butter

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until sauce comes to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Pierce pudding all over with a skewer. Pour 1/2 cup of warm sauce over warm pudding. Stand for 10 minutes.
   
3. Cut into wedges. Serve with remaining sauce.