Sticky Dates Pudding With Gula Melaka Sauce Recipe

Assalamualaikum and hello!

It's Ramadan Kareem and I hope it's not too late to wish my fellow Muslim readers for a blessed Ramadan. Let's take the opportunity to embrace Ramadan and be hopeful that we will meet this holy month again next year, Insyaallah.

In previous years in Ramadan, I always share recipes to all of you because not gonna lie, there's something about Ramadan that makes me extra 'rajin' to cook. :D I recently came across a TV cooking show, "Chef Mail Masak Bersama Pensonic 2017" and it inspires me to cook more for my family. Speaking of Pensonic, I have a few of Pensonic kitchen appliances that I've used since I moved into my own house. Alhamdulillah I have never come across any problems so far, totally impressed with Pensonic's quality! 

In today's recipe, I'll be using the Electric Oven from the Chef's Like range to bake my Sticky Dates Pudding. I love dates because of the nutritious value and the sweetness of dates is simply satisfying. I use dates in smoothies, in making my own almond milk and also as an ingredients in cooking or baking. Sticky dates pudding technically is not a pudding, it's a soft, moist and spongey cake served with sauce. The typical sauce would be caramel or butterscotch sauce, but in my recipe, I made Gula Melaka sauce because I love the creamy sweetness from Gula Melaka or also known as palm sugar. Let's take a look at the ingredients and how to make Sticky Dates Pudding with Gula Melaka Sauce that will be great as dessert during iftar! :)

INGREDIENTS

Sticky Dates Pudding

100g of butter

1/4 cup of sugar (or you can skip the sugar if you want to put in more dates)

2 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla essence

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of soda bicarbonate

10 -15 dates soaked in 250ml of boiling water (depends on the level of the sweetness)

Gula Melaka Sauce 

50g of butter

1/2 cup of milk

1 tsp of vanilla essence

100g of gula melaka (palm sugar)

HOW TO 

1. Use 8inch pan and grease with butter and line with baking paper. Individual bowl is a good option too. But I use a loaf pan and the remaining batter in an aluminium foil pan. Reheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Soak dates (remove pits) in 250ml of boiling water for at least 20 minutes. Chop into smaller pieces. Keep the soaked dates water to be used in the cake mixture.

3. Beat butter and sugar using electric mixer until well mixed. Add in egg, one at a time. Then add in vanilla essence.

4. Mix baking powder and soda bicarbonate into flour. Make sure to sift the dry ingredients.

5. Alternately pour the flour and soaked dates water into the batter, starting with dry ingredients and ending with  dry ingredients. Meaning the ratio would be 3 dry ingredients and 2 soaked dates water. Mix well but remember not to overmix.

6. Fold in chopped dates. The batter will be quite runny.

7. Pour into baking pan and bake for 30 - 45 minutes depending on the size of your pan. I used a loaf pan and the cake is done baking within 35 minutes. The remaining batter is baked in a smaller aluminium foil pan for about 30 minutes.

8. Once done baking, leave the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let it cool down for a little bit.

9. While the cake is baking, make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a saucepan. It took me about 15 minutes because I didn't chop the palm sugar into smaller pieces.

10. After everything is melted and reached the consistency you desire, remove from heat. Strain the sauce to remove any small pieces of sugar to get a smooth silky sauce.

11. Pour the gula melaka sauce on the sticky dates pudding and enjoy it while it's warm. Absolutely yummy!

The cake is soft and moist with the right amount of sweetness. You can always reduce the sauce if you find it too sweet. I hope you girls enjoy this recipe and tag me if you try out this recipe! Happy baking! :)