Sticky Date Pudding is a favourite in our house. I usually bake it. I’ve just tried steaming it. It’s delicious either way! The cake is moist yet not too sweet. The more sauce the pudding absorbs, the richer, sweeter and stickier it becomes. It freezes really well (I gladwrap individual portions of the unsauced cake and freeze the sauce separately). Also, the sauce is great on sliced bananas or ice cream.
I’d been exploring different ways of cooking Sticky Date “Pudd” during the Daring Bakers Challenge for April 2010 (see Steamed Steak and Kidney Pudding).
Choose:

baking
steaming in a saucepan
steaming in a steamer saucepan

Sticky Date Pudding

180g dates, pitted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 cup boiling water
50g butter (salted or unsalted), softened
150g soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
130g self raising flour, sifted
50g wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Butterscotch Sauce

150g soft brown sugar, or dark brown sugar
250ml full pouring cream (no added gelatine) (I use 35% fat)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1tbl unsalted butter

Almond Praline

1/2 cup sugar or caster sugar
2 tbl water
1/4 cup almonds, slivered

Mixture
Roughly chop dates. Stir dates and bicarbonate of soda together well so the dates are coated.

Pour on boiling water. Stand and leave to cool.

Cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs one at a time and beat in.
Sift flours and cream of tartar and then add bran back in.

Gently fold in the flour and the cooled date mixture. Pour into prepared baking dish/pudding basin/darioles/ramekins.

Some mixture in a pudding basin ready for steaming.

Sauce
Combine sugar, cream, vanilla and butter in saucepan. Bring to the boil while stirring and simmer 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to serve.
Almond praline
If you wish, very lightly toast or dry roast the slivered almonds. Then scatter almonds onto a baking paper-lined oven tray or even better, a greased marble slab. Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a heavy based small saucepan (the smaller its diameter the better) over medium heat and cook caramel without stirring. Instead, swirl contents (ie. cook 5-10 seconds – swirl, cook 5-10 seconds – swirl), until deep golden. Pour over the almonds and cool until set. Break praline into pieces.
If Baking:
Heat oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan-forced).
For a large square dish - Lightly butter a 20cm (8”) square tin or ovenproof dish and put a square of baking paper at the base for easy removal. Pour in mixture. If you are not using a fan-forced oven, adjust the oven rack to the lower half of the oven so the top of the pudding will be in the centre of the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes. If it is starting to get too dark on top cover with foil until done. Test for doneness with skewer – only crumbs should adhere. Cut into squares and place in centre of warm dinner plate. Pierce holes with a toothpick or skewer. Pour toffee sauce over each (reserving some) and place back in oven for 5 minutes, or else microwave for 1 minute, or else simply pour hot sauce over pudding, and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
For darioles and ramekins - Lightly butter individual dariole moulds, or ramekins and put a circle of baking paper in the base for easy removal. Fold a kitchen towel and place it in the bottom of a large heavy baking dish (for water bath). This cuts down on splashing and keeps the ramekins from sliding around quite so much. Fill darioles or ramekins to no more than 2/3 with mixture and place into baking dish. Put the dish on the oven rack inside the oven and only then carefully pour warm water around the sides of the moulds until it comes up 1/3 of the side of the moulds. Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until golden and testing with skewer comes out clean. Without removing water bath from oven, carefully remove darioles or ramekins individually from oven. Unmould and place on warm dinner plate. Pierce holes with a toothpick or skewer. Pour toffee sauce over each (reserving some) and place back in oven for 5 minutes, or else microwave for 1 minute, or else simply pour hot sauce over pudding, and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
If Steaming in a Saucepan:
(Steaming in a saucepan is not suitable for darioles or ramekins). Lightly butter a metal or china pudding basin and put a circle of baking paper at the base for easy removal. Fill with mixture to no more than 2/3. Cut a circle of baking paper and a circle of aluminium foil 4 cm (1 1/2”) wider in diameter than the basin. Tie up with string as pictured. If there is a lid use that too.
It helps to put something inside the large saucepan and underneath the pudding, such as:

a collapsible metal steamer basket
a folded up cloth
an upturned plate
a round cake cooling rack
a cake tin lid
a metal simmer mat with the prongs pointing downwards (one of these):

Put one of the items from the above list in the large saucepan. Cover with some water and bring to the boil. Also, boil a kettle in readiness. Put filled pudding basin into the saucepan and adjust (from the kettle) the level of boiling water so that it reaches half way up the sides of the pudding. Cover the saucepan with a lid. Bring to a rolling boil. Adjust heat so that you can hear large bubbles breaking, but it is not so hot or full that the pudding is being lifted too fiercely or floating. Keep topping up with boiling water from the kettle (check every 20 mins or so). A 500ml or 1 pint pudding took 1 and 1/4 hours – or 2-3 hours for a 1.5 litre or 3 pint basin. Steaming is very forgiving and there is a large time frame before it overcooks. The only failures I have had are when I didn’t have the water hot enough to hear the large bubbles breaking, as I described earlier, or if the water was too high and leaked into the mixture! Test for doneness with a skewer – only crumbs should adhere.

Unmould and place on warm dinner plate. Pierce holes with a toothpick or skewer. Pour toffee sauce over (reserving some) and place in hot oven for 5 minutes, or else microwave for 1 minute, or else simply pour hot sauce over pudding, and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Serve in slices.
If Steaming in a Steamer Saucepan:
Lightly butter pudding basin, dariole moulds, or ramekins and put a circle of baking paper in the base).

Fill with mixture to no more than 2/3. Cover with a circle of baking paper and then a circle of foil 4cm (1 1/2“) wider than the diameter. Tie twice around with kitchen string and/or a rubber band.

Pour water into base of pan and steam as you would vegetables or as per manufacturer’s instructions. Check water every so often and add more when needed. The darioles took me 45 mins. A 500ml or 1 pint pudding took 1 and 1/4 hours – or 2-3 hours for a 1.5 litre or 3 pint basin. Test for doneness with a skewer – only crumbs should adhere.