Nothing beats a comforting warm meal on a chilly day. These hearty dishes, which feature in From Our Kitchen to Yours, taste as good as they look!
SERVES 6
Ingredients:
- butter, for greasing
- 180 ml strained orange juice
- finely chopped zest of 1 orange
- 180 g pitted dates, chopped
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
- ¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 90 g butter, softened
- 100 g caster sugar
- 50 g (¼ cup) brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 180 g self-raising flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Caramel Sauce:
- 150 g (¾ cup) brown sugar
- 120 ml regular pouring cream
- 140 g butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease six 1 cup (250 ml) metal moulds. Set aside.
- Bring orange juice to the boil in small saucepan. Add zest and dates, turn off heat, and stir in vanilla and bicarbonate of soda. Cool.
- Beat together butter and sugars using an electric mixer or hand-held electric beater until light and fluffy. With mixer going, drizzle in eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition. The batter may look a little curdled at this time. Fold in flour and cinnamon, then the date mixture.
- Place moulds on a baking tray and divide batter evenly between them. Bake about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Cool puddings for 5 minutes before turning out.
- Pour caramel sauce over top and serve with cream. Garnish with walnuts, pecans or strawberries.
- Caramel sauce: Put all sauce ingredients in saucepan over medium heat, stir until smooth, then boil for 3 minutes. Keep warm.
Images and text:
From Our Kitchen to Yours by The Country Women’s Association of Victoria, photography by Cath Muscat. Published by Murdoch Books. RRP $36.99.
