Ingredients:

• 300 ml of warm water
• 150g chopped dates
• Dark chocolate 100 g
• 3tbsp. milk
• Butter 100g  soft
• Brown Sugar 150 g
• Eggs 3
• Plain flour 225 g
• Baking powder 1 tsp.
• Baking soda 1 tsp.

For the toffee sauce

• 275g golden syrup
• 275g light brown sugar
• 100g butter
• 225ml cream
• 1/2tsp. Vanilla extract.

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Line the cake tin with baking parchment.
2. Soak the dates in warm water.
3. Bain Marie the chocolate with milk
4. Put the butter in a bowl, and whisk, then add sugar to it, whisk it again till it’s no longer a grainy mixture but a smooth mixture. This is called creaming of butter and sugar.
5. Add egg one by one, keep whisking, it will cuddle first but if you keep whisking it will come along.
6. Add melted Chocolate to this mixture.
7. Also, add the dates along with its water.
8. Shift in the flour, baking powder, soda. Gently FOLD IN everything do not whisk now, because if you whisk now you will incorporate lots of air, and you will get a very heavy cake instead of a light and fluffy one.
9. Pour into the prepared cake tin, and bake for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean. then let it cool down for 15-20 minutes before taking out of the baking tray.
10. For the toffee sauce put everything together in a saucepan and boil for 4-5 minutes. 

By: Pallavi Nigam Sahay