Australian Sticky Date Pudding + Seppelt Port

When we first started doing the Wine & Food Events here in the store, Tom did all the cooking. He soon found out that it was too time consuming, so we contracted out a friend who is an excellent chef. But for the one Aussie event that he did cook for, he made an amazing Sticky Date Pudding that had everyone begging for the recipe. This is not for the faint of heart. It's worth going off your diet for, if only for one slice. And the port I'm pairing it with could not have a better match. Seppelt Tawny Port is an Australian offering that seems too good to be true! Deliciously decadent, it's caramel and hazelnut notes cry out for a pudding as perfect as the one Tom made.

For the cake base you will need:
1/2 cup butter, room temp, cut into 8 pieces. Reserve some butter for pan
1-1/4 cup chopped pitted dates
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-3/4 tsp baking powder

For the caramel sauce you will need:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup + 1 TBSP firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

To prepare cake: preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 inch round baking pan with sides at least 2 inches high, such as a springform pan.

Place the dates in a saucepan and cover with 1-1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Add the baking soda (the mixture will foam) and set aside.

In a bowl, cream the cut up butter, sugar and eggs, adding eggs one at a time. Gently mix in the flour, salt and vanilla. Slowly stir in the baking powder and 1/4 cup of the liquid from cooking the dates, until the mixture resembles thick pancake batter. Drain off the remainder of the date liquid and stir in dates.

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until cooked in center.

To prepare caramel sauce: In a saucepan, combine butter, whipping cream, brown sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer, cook for 3 minutes.

To serve: Drizzle some of the sauce over cake as it is cooling, serve the remainder of the sauce separately. Enjoy with a small glass of Seppelt Port. You can thank me later ;-)