Ingredients
11⁄4 cups water
11⁄2 cups (250g) pitted dates, finely chopped
1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate soda
125g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
3⁄4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsps vanilla essence
3 eggs
2 cups plain flour
3 tsps ground cinnamon
2 tsps baking powder
Vanilla ice-cream, to serve
SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE
11⁄2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
11⁄2 cups pure cream
75g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
1 tsp sea salt
Method
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Grease a 19cm x 30cm lamington pan. Line base and all sides with baking paper, extending paper 3cm above pan edges.
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Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat. Stir in dates and soda. Transfer to a large bowl. Cool for 15 minutes.
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Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in the small bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Mixture may look curdled at this stage.
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Add to date mixture with combined sifted flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir until combined. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth over top.
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Cook in a moderate oven (180C) for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Remove from oven. Stand cake in pan.
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Meanwhile, make salted caramel sauce. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Gently boil for about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
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Using a skewer, gently pierce all over top of hot cake. Pour over 1 cup of hot sauce. Stand for 10 minutes to soak.
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Serve warm cake with ice-cream and remaining sauce.
This recipe originally appeared on New Idea Food