sticky date ..

.. cake (yes, the sticky *date* still happens here too).

Adapted from Tamasin Day Lewis' Kitchen Classics; my gluten free cake version of a sticky toffee pudding (nut free too!)

• 55g unsalted butter
• 200g light soft sugar

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan. As it is almost completely melted, add the sugar and hover over a low heat, stirring briskly, until the sugar dissolves into the butter. Leave off the heat for a minute or two.

• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 egg, beaten

Add the essence and the egg, stir. The mixture will immediately loosen in the pan.
Stir in a sifted mix of:

• 100g gluten free flour
• 1 level teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of sea salt

and finally add:

• 120g pitted dates, scissored into half

Line a small loaf pan (i use a 900g tin, but a smaller pan will give you a thicker brownie) and carefully dollop in the mixture. Bake for 25 minutes, but check at 20 mins .. a skewer will be barely clean but the top should look crisp. Leave for at least 10 minutes to cool before removing from the tin and slicing, greedily.