Viv's sticky banana and date puddings

Babiche Martens

These sticky banana and date puddings are my mother's recipe, sourced from one of the many books I have full of handwritten recipes collected from friends and family. The pages are falling out and some of the writing has faded with time. This dish was always a favourite back in the days when a home-made pudding was put on the table every evening.

Base

120 g	Butter, softened
60 g	Demerara sugar
50 g	Caster sugar
2	Bananas, 1 mashed, 1 sliced
1	Egg
1 tsp	Vanilla
300 g	Flour (Main)
2 tsp	Baking powder
120 ml	Water
12	Dates, fresh preferably, cut into pieces
½ tsp	Baking soda
2 Tbsp	Demerara sugar

Caramel sauce

½ cup	Cream
½ cup	Sugar
30 g	Butter

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 180C. Butter the inside of 6 ramekins or cups and dust lightly with flour.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the mashed banana, egg and vanilla then mix well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and combine well.
3. In a small pot place the water, dates and sliced banana and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the baking soda. Pour into the pudding mixture and combine.
4. Spoon the mixture into your greased ramekin. Sprinkle with the extra sugar. Place into the centre of the oven for 20 minutes. The pudding will still be sticky in the middle. Remove from the oven.
5. To make the caramel sauce, combine the cream, sugar and butter in a small pot. Bring to a simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
6. Serve the puddings warm or cold with caramel sauce and lightly whipped cream.