Rum Raisin Sauce
4 cups whipping cream
2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark rum

Place the whipping cream, brown sugar and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.

Bring the cream mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and reduce, stirring occasionally, until the sauce until is reduced by half or to about 3 1/2 cups. This should take about 6 minutes.

Divide the sauce in half, pouring it into two bowls. You will use half of the sauce to spoon over the cake to make the “toffee.”

In one half of the sauce stir in the golden raisins and dark rum.

Remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Cover and refrigerate the two sauces. The sauce can prepared in advance. Simply re-warm the sauce in a double-boiler over gently simmering water. Serve the sauce warm.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups chopped pitted dates
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup dark rum or brandy
2/3 cup chopped dried, candied pineapple
1 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp. chopped candied ginger
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Powdered sugar for garnish
Whole fresh cranberries for garnish
Sprigs of fresh mint for garnish

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Grease and lightly flour a 12-cup Bundt pan or other round, decorative mold-type pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

Combine the water, chopped dates and baking soda in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring it to a boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and spoon the date mixture into a bowl. Let the date mixture cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it is thoroughly combined and light and fluffy in texture. Add the eggs, vanilla and rum and continue to beat the batter. Add the dried pineapple, golden raisins, candied ginger and walnuts to the batter and continue to beat until thoroughly combined.

With the mixer running at slow speed, add half the flour mixture, then half the reserved date mixture. Add the remaining flour and date mixtures and beat until the cake batter is fully mixed together.

Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Leave about 1” from the top of the pan to allow the cake to rise. Juggle the pan so that the batter is evenly distributed.

Bake the cake for 30 minutes. At this point the cake is only partially baked.

Pour 3/4 cup of the prepared caramel sauce over the top of the cake.

Continue baking the cake for another 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no cake batter on it.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the cake pan sitting on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes.

If the cake batter has risen over the top of the pan, use a long, serrated knife to cut the cake off so that it is level with the top of the pan.

Invert the cake pan onto another wire rack and let the cake cook completely.

Note: I spray the wire rack with some non-stick cooking spray so the cake won’t stick to it.

Let the cake cool to room temperature.

Hold a mesh strainer over the cake. Using a teaspoon, sprinkle some white powdered sugar into the strainer and dust the top of the sticky toffee pudding with powdered sugar “snow.”

Place some whole fresh cranberries in the center hole of the cake. Place some sprigs of fresh mint around the cake.

Slice the cake at the table and serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Pass a bowl of warmed rum raisin sauce around the table so each guest can drizzle some of the warm sauce over the pudding.

Note: to make a smaller pudding for 6-8 guests, simply reduce the recipe by half and use an 8“ round bundt cake pan.