Sticky Toffee Pudding

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F/gas mark 4.
2. Place the soya milk, dates and treacle into a saucepan and gently heat. Simmer for a few minutes or until the dates start to break up. Mash the mixture or blend with an electric hand blender.
3. Add the vanilla, margarine, sugar and nuts. Continue to gently heat until the margarine has melted. Remove from the heat.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the cake mixture. Don’t over mix because this will result in a heavy cake.
5. Transfer the mixture to a greased round ovenproof dish, 5cm deep by 23cm across. Other shapes will work fine but the mixture should cover the base to a depth of approximately 4cm.
6. Bake for 35 minutes. Test if the cake is cooked by gently inserting a skewer. If not cooked, return to the oven for another 5 minutes and retest.
7. While the cake is cooking, make the sauce. Simply place all of the sauce ingredients into a pan and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
8. When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and gently make a series of holes in it with a skewer. The holes will allow the sauce to soak into the cake. Spoon half of the sauce over the top. Serve each portion with a small spoonful of additional toffee sauce.

CHEF’S TIP: For an extra treat, serve with vegan custard or ice-cream. This can be made gluten free, by replacing the flour with self-raising gluten free flour, such as Doves Farm.