Pedro Ximénez Sherry & Date Puddings

These simple Sherry and date puddings are inspired by part of a far more elaborate recipe by Cheong Liew in his book My Food. He adds ginger for an extra dimension, so stir 2 teaspoons of ginger juice into the batter if you like ginger’s pepperiness (made by squeezing about 1 tablespoon of finely grated ginger). Cheong marinates his dates in muscat whereas, being a Sherry lover, I’ve opted for Pedro Ximénez (PX) Sherry and serve an extra nip or 2 alongside (I use Osborne’s). More than anyone, Cheong has taught me that recipes aren’t blue-prints to be followed slavishly but guidelines to use as a starting point for your own inspiration; so take his recipes (and mine) as inspiration for your own kitchen adventures and have fun!

Serves 4

Ingredients

90g pitted dates, roughly chopped
30ml PX Sherry
100g butter
75g castor sugar
1 egg
90g plain flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt flakes, crushed
Icing sugar, for dusting
Crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard, for serving

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Place dates and Sherry in a bowl, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes or so.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy.
Add egg and beat to incorporate well.
Sift in combined flour, baking powder and salt and fold it in to form a smooth batter.
Stir in date mixture.
Pour into greased, ½-cup (125ml) ramekins and bake for 15-20 minutes, until they’ve shrunk away from the sides of the ramekins and a skewer inserted comes out almost clean.
Set aside to cool a little.
Turn Sherry & date puddings out onto plates, dust with icing sugar and serve warm with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard.