A BBC Good Food recipe
Similar to sticky toffee pudding, this makes a great alternative to Christmas pudding! Delicious served with cream or ice-cream.
Ingredients
For the cake
250g pitted dates, chopped
300ml milk
100g butter
140g ginger jam
140g dark muscovado sugar
3 large ripe pears
175g self raising flour
50g pecan nuts (reserve 10 and chop the rest)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1⁄2 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs beaten
For the syrup
85g light muscovado sugar
150ml brandy (or rum)
Method
Put the chopped dates in a pan with the milk, butter, ginger jam and dark muscovado sugar. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the mixture starts to bubble round the edge of the pan. Stir well and cool for 1 hour
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the base of a buttered 23cm springform tin with baking parchment
Peel and chop the pears into large chunks
Mix the flour, chopped pecans, and bicarb with the spices, then stir in the cooled date mixture and the beaten eggs. Stir in the chopped pears
Pour into the tin and scatter the roughly broken reserved pecans on top
Bake for 40 minutes, then cover the top loosely with foil and return to the oven for a further 25-30 minutes more, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with just sticky crumbs. The cake may look a little wet around the pears
Make the syrup by dissolving the light muscovado sugar in a pan with 50ml of water until syrupy, add the alcohol and set aside
Drizzle the syrup over the warm cake and serve with cream or ice cream
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