Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes:

Well, it is doubtful that you know me personally, however one of my favourite warming desserts to order in the pub is a sticky toffee and so because I felt that making a whole pudding could be a bit daunting, let alone the amount of care to be taken so that it all cooks perfectly evenly, I decided to morph it into cupcakes. Enjoy!

180g dates, pitted and chopped

180ml boiled water

90g butter, softened

140g soft light brown sugar

2 jumbo eggs

180g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Oven: usual. Place dates in a bowl with the water and leave for 20 minutes. NO LONGER or else they'll go squidgy :-(

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy with a hand mixer. Add the eggs in one at a time and to help prevent curdling, add 1 tbsp of the 180g flour with the last two eggs. Make sure to scrape the sides for unmixed ingredients. A rubber spatula comes in handy here!

Sieve in the dry ingredients in 3 goes and mix until smooth and uniform in texture. Next add the vanilla and the dates and make sure they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

As usual, bake for 18 - 20 minutes and frost with a buttercream that has had 100g tinned caramel or 'dulce de leche' stirred in. Top with little pieces of toffee of fudge.