Ginger sticky toffee pudding

For the sponge, put the milk in a small pan and bring to the boil. Stir in the chopped dates, followed by the bicarbonate of soda then leave off the heat.

Put the butter, sugar, treacle and golden syrup in a large pan and gently heat, stirring until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool for 10 minutes.

Butter 8 x 175ml pudding basins or 8 holes of a giant muffin tin (if you are unsure of the size, pour in water to measure them). Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C /gas 4.

Stir the eggs into the butter-sugar mix, followed by the milky date mixture. Mix the flour and ground ginger briefly, then stir this in too until you have a smooth batter. Divide between the basins, sit on a baking tray and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centres comes out clean.

Cool the puddings for 5 minutes then carefully use a palette knife to help loosen the cakes, and turn them out of their tins.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a pan with a pinch of salt. Heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved, then bubble for a minute to get a syrupy consistency. Sit the cakes in a shallow ovenproof tin and evenly pour over the sauce.

Switch the oven to a low grill setting and heat gently until the sauce just starts to bubble around the edges. Serve with cream, ice cream or custard, if you like.