About the Recipe
An alternative to Christmas Pudding similar to Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients
250g stoned dates, chopped
300ml milk
100g butter
140g ginger jam
3 large ripe pears
175g self raising flour
50g pecan nuts (reserve 10 and chop the rest)
1tsp 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)
Preparation
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 mins, then cover the top loosely with foil and return to the oven
for a further 25-30 mins 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 to serve as an alternative to sticky
toffee pudding with cream or ice cream