I came up this amazing version with help from top Toronto pastry chef and good friend Joanne Yolles. The trick to this is pouring the hot toffee sauce over the still-warm cake.
Pudding:
1 cup water
3 tbsp strong coffee
1 tbsp brandy, scotch or rum
1 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
Toffee Sauce:
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
6 tbsp butter
¾ cup 35% whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8-inch/20-cm square baking pan and line bottom with parchment paper.
In small saucepan, bring water, coffee and brandy to boil. Add dates; stir well. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
In large bowl, using hand-held electric mixer or in standing mixer using paddle attachment, cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Transfer dates and any liquid to a bowl; blend date mixture with hand-held electric mixer until just combined with tiny date chunks in it. (Or transfer dates and any liquid to a food processor; pulse on and off several times.)
Stir flour mixture and date mixture alternately into sugar/butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until batter is thick and smooth. Pour into prepared pan; smooth top with knife.
Bake in oven 30 to 35 minutes or until browned, springy to touch and tester comes out clean.
Meanwhile, make Toffee Sauce. In saucepan, cook sugar, butter and cream over low heat, stirring, until slightly thickened and brown, about 6 minutes.
Poke holes in top of hot pudding with skewer. Slowly pour over about two-thirds of Toffee Sauce; reserve remainder to serve with pudding.
Serve pudding warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt and reserved warmed sauce.
Makes about 8 servings.