Rachel Allen's chocolate sticky toffee pudding recipe

This chocolate sticky toffee pudding is ideal when you can't make up your mind between sticky toffee pudding or a chocolate dessert and you end up wanting both! We all know there's no better combination than chocolate and toffee and that you will really hit the sweet tooth with this one. This chocolate dessert is perfect for when you've got people coming round - it serves up to 8 people so you will have enough to go around and because it's very rich, you only need to dish up a little portion. You can serve this chocolate sticky toffee pudding either as it is or with some vanilla ice cream - hot and cold go really well together and the ice cream cuts through the sweetness of this pud.

Ingredients

• 300ml (½ pint) boiling water
• 150g (5oz) chopped dates
• 100g (4oz) dark chocolate 100g (4oz) butter, softened
• 150g (5oz) soft light brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
• 3 eggs
• 225g (8oz) plain flour
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1tsp baking powder

For the toffee sauce

• 275g (10oz) golden syrup
• 275g (10oz) light brown sugar
• 100g (4oz) butter
• 225ml (8fl oz) cream
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Grease the sides of a 20cm (8in) diameter spring-form tin and line the base with a round disc of greaseproof paper.
2. Put the water in a saucepan, reduce to a simmer and soak the dates in it for 10 mins. At the same time, melt the chocolate in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of simmering water (also known as a bain marie).
3. Cream the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and soft. Beat in the eggs one by one and then mix in the melted chocolate. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, then add the dates and the soaking liquid and stir to mix. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 1 hr or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to a plate.
4. To make the toffee sauce, put all the ingredients into a saucepan on a high heat and boil them for 4-5 mins, stirring regularly, until they are smooth.
5. To serve, place the cake on a large serving plate (with a rim or a lip around the edge) and pour some of the hot toffee sauce over the top. Serve the remaining sauce in a jug or bowl on the side.