What makes my world go round...

The post Christmas sale is on and u shud see the crowd in town yesterday... we were out the whole day yesterday.. not to shop till we drop.. no way... but to do little errands and at the same time to go to our fav cafe.. unfortunately when we got to Paragon.. Caffe Beviamo was closed.. so no Piccolo Latte coffee and sticky date pudding for us but instead we had our coffee in PS Cafe.. i am not saying PS Cafe is not that good.. it is .. the coffee is little thin for our liking and to be paying $15 for a slice of cake is a little pricey! :o(

Talking abt this pudding... i think we got addicted to it ever since we were still dating.. every single time we wanna hv desert we will head to Tanglin Mall.. their coffee is the best and their sticky date pudding is to die for.. anyway dont ask me why i hv not attempted baking it all this while cos i really hv no answer to it.. to be honest.. ever since i started baking full time again.. i hv never.. not once ordered any cake fm any bakery.. every single time i feel like ordering some i will always end up walking out of the bakery.. last week on my bday.. hb told me not to bake but instead buy one as my bday cake... i didnt end up doing so simply cos i cant.. and if i now start baking my fav sticky date pudding and if the recipe turns out well.. i dont think i would be able to enjoy my coffee with any other desert.. lets just say... dont spoil ur palette lah Rima.. u need to go to a cafe and hv coffee with some kinda desert!!

Anyway.. we got home.. had our dinner and had coffee with no cake.. i told hb that maybe its time for me to try out one of the two recipes which i hv kept in my notebook of sticky date pudding... so right after the 9:30pm news.. i took out my butter.. whipped it and bef i knew it .. my cake was ready... we didnt hv it right away as we didnt hv any vanilla ice cream in our fridge.. so this morning right after brekkie.. hb drove to the nearest supermarket.. got ourself Vanilla ice cream and guess what we had as desert... sticky date pudding in our own comfort zone.. weeeee my super fussy hb gave 9 1/2 out of 10 and walloped the whole plate.. the cake itself is super soft and moist.. full of flavor and i am so so glad that i used the batter baker butterscotch sauce recipe cos it didnt overpower this desert .. now how on earth am i gonna go back to my normal routine of having sticky date pudding and coffee in Caffe Beviamo!! welp!

Ingredients (serves 8)
250g pitted dates, chopped
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 cups boiling water
125g butter, softened - i used unsalted anchor brand and added 1/4 tsp to my flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract - no stock so used 2tsp of vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups White Wings Self-Raising Flour, sifted - i used flour and added 1tsp of baking powder

Butterscotch Sauce
90g brown sugar
120ml thickened cream - i used double cream
80g butter




Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a 7cm deep, 22cm (base) cake pan.

- Place dates and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Pour over boiling water. Allow to stand for 20 minutes - I boil water and dates and once it started to boil.. i off heat and added bicarbonate of soda.. let it stand for 20 mins or till lukewarm to touch.

- 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.

- Spoon mixture into prepared cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn onto a plate.

- Make sauce 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.

- Pierce pudding all over with a skewer. Pour 1/2 cup of warm sauce over warm pudding. Stand for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve with remaining sauce.



This is Cafe Beviamo sticky date pudding pic that i took a year ago and was featured in my blog.. i remembered the day i took this pic.. new camera so the pic didnt do justice to how delish this sticky date pudding is..anywho if u want another recipe for the cake that uses less butter here it is..

Ingredients
200g pitted dates
300ml water
1 tsp baking soda
40g walnuts (optional)
60g butter
40g brown sugar
100g white sugar
2 eggs
150g flour
1 tsp baking powder


Source: First recipe taken fm Taste.au