Sticky Toffee Pudding

When you lose the mince meat pie mix and can't find it Christmas morning, you revert to a recipe, heretofore unconverted to american measurements, for hopefully the best English Christmas dinner dessert ever. I'm thinking that I'm using (this old, stained green paper in my recipe notebook) a recipe someone in Scotland gave me after we discovered this dessert at one of the restaurants in St Andrews in 1996.

Not sure what size pan to put this amount in. I'll edit this post after today's experiment. But by guidance in the smitten kitchen recipe for something similar, I'll bake it in an 11 x 15 pan for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

The Mixture:

1 stick butter (¼ pound)

1-1/2 cups caster sugar (granulated sugar beat finer in the blender)

2 eggs

4 c flour

2 tsp salt

2 Tb double active baking powder

1-1/4 c chopped dates

1 tsp baking soda

2 c boiling water

Cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy.

Beat in eggs gradually.

Fold in the flour

In separate bowl, pour boiling water over dates and baking soda. When the water is absorbed, add dates to creamed mixture.

Bake in hot oven for approximately 40 minutes.

The Sauce:

2 sticks butter (½ pound)

2-1/4 c brown sugar

1 pint double cream

Boil all ingredients together. Pour over backed pudding and brown under the grill before serving. For overkill, serve with more fresh double cream.