Hey there!

I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend? I can’t believe there’re only two weeks left till the end of the year! I feel like I’ve just about got used to jotting the date down correctly and now it’s about to change all over again. #FirstWorldProblems

This week, I’ve got the perfect recipe for you to cosy up on the sofa with…

Sticky. Toffee. Pudding. Cupcakes.

Oh yes.

With dates being in season, they’re a perfect seasonal Christmas-y treat. I’ve only recently started liking them. I’ve been buying the fancy medjool dates from Waitrose and they pretty much just melt apart in texture with a complex caramel flavour which pairs perfectly with brown sugar in this recipe.

Gah, I don’t have the words to describe how delicious these cupcakes are.

Moist, surprisingly light caramely sponge, baked in a gooey toffee sauce before being topped with a mascarpone whipped cream and toffee sauce drizzle.

^ The star of the show, the date. It pairs perfectly with treacle and brown sugar. The trio work so well together!

^ Can you see that thin wet, soggy layer at the bottom. Adding a spoonful of toffee sauce to the cupcake liners before the batter was such a good move. It’s reminiscent of the classic English dessert without being a complete sweetness overload.

Make these soon guys!

Enjoy,

-Kay

Ingredients

Cake

• 200g medjool dates, pitted
• 45ml boiling water
• 100g butter, softened
• 160g demerara sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 165g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 120ml buttermilk

Whipped cream frosting

• 600ml double cream
• 100g mascarpone
• 2 tbsp icing sugar

Toffee sauce

• 100g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 50g unsalted butter
• 75ml double cream

Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and line your cupcake tin with 12 liners.
2. Chop the dates, place in a small bowl, pour over boiling water, cover with another plate and leave to soak and steam for 10mins.
3. Add dates and water to a food processor and blitz until it turns into a thick, creamy paste.
4. Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
5. One by one, add the eggs, mixing well to combine each time.
6. Add the date paste and treacle and mix well to combine.
7. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda.
8. Add one third of the dry flour mix to the to the wet mixture before whisking well to combine.
9. Add half the buttermilk and whisk well to combine.
10. Continue till all of the ingredients have been added, mixed and combined.
11. Add a tablespoon of the toffee sauce to the bottom of each cupcake liner before evenly distributing the batter between cupcake liners and bake for 25-28minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
12. Once done, cool on a wire rack.

Whipped cream

1. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and whisk until just whipped and thick enough to pipe.
2. Using a piping bag and tips, decorate the cooled cupcakes with cream before drizzling over the remaining toffee sauce.

Toffee sauce

1. Add all the ingredients to a pot and heat on medium until well combined.