Boy oh boy do I have a tasty recipe for you today. You're in for a real treat! I was inspired last week after viewing one of my friends photo's on facebook of a delicious coffee cake she made in a mug using the microwave. I have heard and seen a few recipes like these and thought I should try it one day ........

That "one day" came late last week when I was craving something sweet... as you do when your pregnant. Dessert is my favourite meal at the moment and it is actually sometimes taking precedence over real meals. Naughty Naughty me. Oh but I just love dessert so much.

Anyway as I was saying I had a craving for something sweet and I did think about making a Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding in a Cup recipe..... that I am working on at the moment but I thought I would try something that is a favourite for most people..... Sticky Date Pudding!

After a bit of experimenting with the base ingredients I got down to making the sticky date pudding. The beauty of this recipe is you do everything in the microwave and in one cup... no mess, no fuss and you get sticky date pudding sooner! This is such a great recipe for when unexpected visitors drop around or when you just want dessert but don't want to be left with mountains of it after you've had your fill. Portion control is the beauty of this recipe and any recipe made in a Mug!

I enjoyed mine with a nice cup of coffee sitting out on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather. These little cupfuls of dessert can get a little addictive - knowing you can whip something up so delicious in such a short amount of time - Deadly!

The caramel sauce I used for this recipe is a "very" basic one as I wanted it to fit in the 5 minute time frame of making the pudding as well. It still is delicious but maybe not a true sticky date caramel sauce.

5 Minute Sticky Date Pudding

{Print Recipe}

Makes 2

Ingredients:

In each mug place the following

10 dates, roughly chopped

1 ½ Tbsp Boiling Water

1/8 tsp Bicarb Soda

1 ½ Tbsp Butter

1 ½ Tbsp Brown Sugar

1 ½ Tbsp SR Flour

½ egg (simply beat one egg in a cup and divide among the two mugs)

½ Tbsp Walnuts, roughly chopped

Basic Caramel Sauce:

4 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Butter

1 tsp Milk or Cream

Method:

In each mug place the chopped dates and water. Place in microwave for 50 sec until the dates are softened. Add the Bicarb soda and let it sit for 30 sec and mash roughly with a spoon. Add the butter and place again in the microwave for 10-15 sec to soften and melt. Add the sugar, egg and flour and mix to combine thoroughly. Flatten the top of the mixture and sprinkle the walnuts on top. Place in the microwave on a sauce for 1 minute. It may need a further 10-20 sec to finish it off completely, depending on your microwave.

Basic Caramel Sauce: In an ovenproof ramekin add the sugar, butter and milk/cream and place in the microwave for 20 seconds. Remove and stir and repeat another three times. You will end up with a dark caramel sauce. Drizzle over the sticky date cups and enjoy! * Please keep an eye on this sauce as it may burn if your microwave is a higher wattage then the one I used to create this recipe!