Sticky ginger puddings with caramel sauce

Sticky ginger puddings with caramel sauce

Puddings
150g pitted dates, chopped
¼ cup (55g) crystallised ginger, chopped
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
60g soft unsalted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
165g caster sugar
185g self-raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Caramel Sauce
¾ cup brown sugar
150ml pouring cream
150g butter, chopped
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 190C.

For caramel sauce, combine brown sugar, cream and butter in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

For puddings, cook dates in 1 cup of water over low heat for about 10 minutes or until they reach jam consistency. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Grease eight 200ml ovenproof dishes. Spoon pudding mixture evenly between them. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  Remove from the moulds and serve warm with caramel sauce or custard or cream.
Serves 8