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Might be one of the best cakes in the world. Or is it technically a pudding?

Servings: 9

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Active Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup (155g) pitted dates, roughly chopped

• 1 cup (240mL) water, boiling

• ½ tsp (2g) baking soda

• 1.5 cups (225g) all-purpose flour

• ¼ tsp (~1g) baking powder

• ¾ tsp (4g) fine sea salt 

• ½ tsp (~1g) nutmeg, freshly grated

• 6 Tbsp (84g) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing

• ¾ cup (150g) light brown sugar, packed

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

• 2 tsp (12g) vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Toffee Sauce: 

• 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar, packed

• ½ cup (112g) unsalted butter

• ⅓ cup (80mL) Lyles Golden Syrup (or light corn syrup)

• 2 Tbsp (30mL) Lyles Treacle Syrup (or molasses) 

• 2 cups (480mL) heavy whipping cream

• 1 tsp (6g) vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) 

• Generous pinch of fine sea salt 

Assembly:

• Cake

• Toffee Sauce

• Vanilla bean ice cream

Directions:

Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9x9” (23x23 cm) baking dish with butter. 

2. To make your cake first bring dates and water to a boil over medium high heat in a small pot.  Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer until soft, about 4 minutes. Add your baking soda and puree with a hand blender or food processor until as smooth as possible. 

3. In a bowl combine your all-purpose flour, baking powder, fine sea salt, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk until thoroughly combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a separate large bowl add your softened butter and beat with the whisk attachment or electric beaters until creamy. Next, add your light brown sugar and cream and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Then, add in your eggs (1 at a time), egg yolk, vanilla bean paste, and date puree. Fold in half of your flour mixture and mix until just combined. Repeat with the other half of your flour mixture, being careful not to overmix.

4. Pour your cake batter into your 9x9” baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until you can poke the center of the cake with a cake tester and it comes out clean. Once baking is complete, immediately poke the entire cake with the tines of a fork or a wooden skewer, making sure to touch the bottom of the pan. Do this all over the cake, ensuring each set of holes is evenly spaced, about ½” (1cm), from one another. 

Toffee Sauce:

1. While your cake is baking, make your sauce. Into a medium-sized sauce pan, combine the light brown sugar, golden syrup, treacle syrup, and butter. Reduce for 1-2 minutes then add 1 cup of your cream. Bring to a boil and cook for about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and cook and reduce for 15-20 minutes or until a deep amber caramel forms. Add your remaining cream, increase heat to medium and cook stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes. Cut the heat, add the vanilla bean paste, and season to taste with salt. Keep warm to the side.

Assembly: 

1. Drizzle ½ your sauce (about 1 cup) over your warm cake so it coats and soaks evenly into the holes. Return the pan to the oven for about 3-4 minutes or until the sauce bubbles. Cut into 3x3” (7.5x7.5 cm) squares and plate while hot. Top with a generous spoonful of your toffee sauce, a large scoop of ice cream, followed by one or two more generous spoonfuls of your toffee sauce. Serve and enjoy!e time that it’s already added in the dough, during the beginning of the mix. You don’t want to add it after you’ve made your dough.