Ingredients
180g whole Medjool dates  
80g dried Prunes 
3 fresh figs, chopped 
2 tbsp brandy 
150ml boiling water 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
85g butter 
140g Demerara sugar 
2 eggs 
175g self raising flour 
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 
100ml milk 
3tsp cinnamon 
¼ tsp nutmeg 
½ tsp allspice 

Fresh Fig and Butterscotch Sauce 
175g dark muscovado sugar 
50g butter 
225ml double cream 
2 fresh figs, chopped 

Method
Heat the oven to 180c. 

Stone and cut the dates small.  Put the dates in a bowl and mix through the boiling water. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix and mash with a fork. Stir in the vanilla extract. 

Beat the butter and Demerara sugar until soft and creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each.   

Mix the spices and bicarbonate of soda into the flour  

Put in one third of the flour and gently fold through.  Add half of the milk and fold through followed by another one third of flour, the rest of the milk and the rest of the flour, gently folding after each addition.   

Stir through the date mix. 

9 times out of 10 the mixture looks slightly curdled at some point in this process, don’t fret though it still turns out perfectly. 

I like to use 180ml pudding basins which I butter and then coat with flour.  Butter each pudding tin, put 2 tbsps of flour in one tin, you then want to tip into the next tin while twisting it so you coat every part - this is what stops it sticking. 

To cook each one equally you need them to weigh the same amount, this might seem overboard but the best way to do this is to weigh them, fill them all roughly half way and then weight them again, equal them out and keep adding batter until all the batter us used up.  This step is obviously completely up to you, you can do it by eye.

Put them on a baking tray and cook until golden which is 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.  They should be risen and a cocktail stick or skewer should come out clean. 

Meanwhile make your toffee sauce.  Put the sugar, butter and  half of the cream into a small saucepan and gently cook until the sugar dissolves.  Once the sugar has dissolved - add the figs. You want to bubble the sauce for 2 minutes.   Remove from the heat and stir in the rest of the cream. 

When the puddings are cooked, cover them in the sauce and serve! 

These heat up perfectly either in the oven for 15-20 minutes or microwave and become more sticky the longer you leave them.