Nothing could be sweeter at the end of a meal on a cold winter’s night than a self saucing pudding and this Slow Cooker Sticky Date Self Saucing Pudding is such an easy recipe. You set and forget it in the slow cooker in the afternoon and it will be ready for after dinner.

I’ve done a self saucing pudding in the slow cooker before. It was a Pineapple & Coconut flavoured self saucing pudding which was delicious. Start by spraying the slow cooker with a little oil spray.

Soak a cup full of chopped dates in 1 cup of hot water.

Once the dates had softened, I blitzed the mixture. There was no way my fussy daughter was going to eat it if she saw the tiniest chunk of date. You don’t have to do this step if you prefer the dates chunky. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to this mixture.

Mix the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.

Add the mixed batter into the slow cooker and carefully pour over the hot water mixture. I usually pour over the back of a spoon so it disperses over the batter without dislodging it too much.

You will need a slow cooker that is larger than 1.5 litres (6 cup capacity) as you can see in the photo above. Alternatively, you could make individual puddings in cups and put in the slow cooker as I did for these Steamed Christmas Plum Puddings.

Once you eat all those bits off around the edge it’s cooked, you’ll see all that delicious caramel sauce pooled at the bottom of the slow cooker and it’s ready for serving. This one took about 2 hours on high but you could cook it for 4 hours on slow.

These types of self saucing puddings are best served straight away as the sauce tends to soak into the cake if left too long. Either way, they’re still delicious. You could always make up extra caramel sauce if you wanted to freezer leftovers or save it for the next night.

I prefer self saucing puddings with a scoop of ice cream but you could serve with cream or custard or just on it’s own.

Recipe

• 1.5 cups self raising flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup dates, chopped
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tbs vinegar
• 6 tbs oil (I used vegetable oil)

For sauce:

• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbs butter

1. Put chopped dates in hot water and allow to soften.
2. Once softened, blitz into a puree, if desired, otherwise leave as is if you prefer chunky dates in your pudding.
3. Add vinegar and oil to softened date mixture.
4. Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, bicarb soda and then add combined wet ingredients.
5. Stir batter until well mixed.
6. Pour into a larger slow cooker (at least 2 litre) that has been spray with a little oil spray.
7. Combine extra hot water, brown sugar and butter and carefully pour over batter.
8. Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.

This recipe can be made in a suitable baking dish in the oven.

It can be made in individual serving sizes within cups inside the slow cooker. Ensure that there is sufficient water half way up the sides of the cups while cooking.