Ingredients

The following ingredients have 7 Servings
  • 4 mandarins (or two oranges)
  • 110g butter, softened
  • 320g castor sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped
  • 4 eggs
  • 360g plain flour
  • 300g dates, roughly chopped
  • 600ml water
  • 2 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Double cream or ice-cream to serve
  • <b>Butterscotch sauce</b>
  • 220g castor sugar
  • 100g butter
  • 100ml cream

Instruction

  • <p>1. Put the unpeeled mandarins in a saucepan, add water to cover them, bring to the boil and cook&nbsp;for 45 minutes. (If using oranges cook for an hour)</p> <p>2. Preheat oven to 190C fan-forced (200C regular) and grease a large loaf tin with butter.&nbsp;</p> <p>3. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds with&nbsp;an electric mixer&nbsp;until pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.</p> <p>4. Add the flour, a quarter at a time,&nbsp;still beating.&nbsp;Put the dates in the water and bring to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the bicarb soda -&nbsp;the mixture will rise and froth. Pour the dates and liquid into the creamed butter and eggs and mix.&nbsp;</p> <p>5. Cut&nbsp;the mandarins&nbsp;into rough&nbsp;chunks and fold through the batter.</p> <p>6. Pour the batter into the tin, up to about two centimetres from the top. Put the loaf tin in a deep tray and fill the tray with water to halfway up the loaf tin. Cover the deep tray in foil and bake in the oven for 55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.&nbsp;When the pudding is ready, slice it into thick pieces,&nbsp;put in serving bowls, pour over butterscotch sauce and serve with&nbsp;double cream or ice cream.</p> <p><b>For butterscotch sauce</b></p> <p>Put the sugar into a very clean saucepan over a medium heat. Don't stir it. When the sugar melts&nbsp;and turns&nbsp;a dark caramel colour, add the butter and cream while&nbsp;stirring – the mixture will boil intensely at first.&nbsp;Once it subsides, remove the pan from the heat immediately. If there are&nbsp;crystallised&nbsp;sugar lumps in the sauce, pass it through a fine strainer. If not,&nbsp;pour the sauce into a container ready to serve. Don't refrigerate, as it will solidify.</p>