Sticky Toffee Pudding

For the sticky toffee cakes:

6 ounces dried pitted dates
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup plus 2 tbl all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup salted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter 6 1/2-cup ramekins.

In a medium saucepan heat together the dates and water over medium heat. Let simmer until softened, about 15 minutes. Dump into a food processor and pulse until extremely smooth. Set aside.

In a seperate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking
soda and cinnamon powder Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Add the dates mixture and beat until completely incorporated. With the mixer on low speed slowly add in the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.

Divide the mixture evenly between the ramekins, smooth the tops, and bake for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with only a few crumbs remaining.

Using a wooden skewer poke about 10 holes in each cake. Pour 3-4 tbl of the toffee sauce into each ramekin. Bake for another 10 minutes until the toffee sauce is bubbly. Slide a knife around each ramekin to loosen the cake and invert onto a dish. Top with more toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream if desired.

Toffee sauce
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup heavy whipping cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
Method
1 First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the brown sugar next to the pan, measured and waiting. Making butterscotch is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients.

2 In a heavy bottomed stainless steel 2 quart saucepan, melt butter over low to medium heat. Just before butter is melted, add all dark brown sugar at once and stir with wooden spoon until sugar is uniformly wet.

3 Stir infrequently until mixture goes from looking grainy to molten lava. Make sure to get into the corners of your pot, and watch closely to notice how the mixture changes. It will take about 3 to 5 minutes.

4.Right before you add the cream, the caramelizing brown sugar will begin to look and feel more like liquid and less like thick wet sand.

5 At this point add all the cream at once and replace your spoon with a whisk. Lower heat a little and whisk cream into mixture. When liquid is uniform, turn heat back to medium and whisk every few minutes for a total of 10 minutes.

6.after liquid has been boiling on the stove for its 10 minutes, turn heat off and let rest for a minute or two before transferring into a heatproof storage vessel. (I prefer a stainless steel or glass bowl.) Cool to room temperature.