17.12.07

Date Pudding with Mascarpone & Caramel - Sugar High Friday!



There's this charming attitude in muscovado sugar - it's the dark colour, the sticky texture, the strong smell or just its easy natural way of being... just sugar. No tricky or complex processes, no artificial refining, no fuss. I so love muscovado sugar! If I could use it in every recipe without changing the result I would. My favourite brand has to be Billington's for their quality. Those guys know all about sugar! And they have a great attitude specially with Africa, sponsoring fair trade deals. And the packs look good. And biased as I am, I could find zillions of reasons why Billington's the best but I'll leave just one: my date pudding. ;)



Date Pudding with Mascarpone & Caramel
Adapted from Annabel Langbein, Cooking to Impress without Stress

Makes 8-10

300 ml (1 1/4 cups) boiling water
200 grs (1 cup) dates, chopped
60 grs (4 Tbsps) butter
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 dark brown muscovado sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200 grs (1 1/3 cup) flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 apples, diced

To serve: mascarpone cheese and light caramel

Heat oven to 180ºC / 350ºF and grease 8 muffin tins (I did 10), dusting with sugar. Pour the boiling water over dates and butter and stir to melt. Mix in baking soda and leave to cool. Stir in muscovado sugar and molasses until combined. Add eggs and vanilla, stirring.

Gently fold flour and baking powder in. Combine apples, without over mixing. Pour into tins and bake about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, turn out and serve with a large spoon of mascarpone cheese and light warm caramel.



This my entry for Sugar High Friday, hosted in December by Zorra under the "baked, steamed and boiled puddings or the creamy ones" theme.

7 comments:

Gretchen Noelle said...

These look and sound delicious!

zorra said...

Awesome! This recipe comes on my to-do-list.

Thank you for your participation in SHF.

Thistlemoon said...

Wow that looks incredible! I love everythign about it! YUM!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I adore dates and am adding this to my "must-bake" list. It looks remarkably moist and luscious. Mmmm....:)

Peabody said...

This looks right up my alley and with mascarpone cheese...YUM!

Anonymous said...

That looks absolutely marvelous! Dates! Marscapone! Who needs anything else?

Ann

Cakelaw said...

This sounds lovely. I adore date puddings, and the addition of caramel makes this irresistable!