From crafts to baking, The Hebridean Baker: A Scottish Christmas has everything you need for the ultimate Scottish Christmas. Read on to discover the perfect recipe for Sticky Toffee & Pear Puddings.

The Hebridean Baker: A Scottish Christmas
By Coinneach MacLeod
Published by Black & White Publishing

Photo Credit Susie Lowe

Sticky Toffee & Pear Puddings

How do you improve on perfection? Sticky toffee pudding is already delicious – dark, sweet and sumptuous. But add a handful of chopped pears and something even more lovely happens. The fruit melts into the
sponge studded with dates, adding surprising tastes of sweetness and keeping everything beautifully tender. I am confident this will become a regular on your kitchen table!

Makes 6 individual puddings

Ingredients

For the puddings

• 200g (7oz) dates
• 200ml (¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) hot black tea (Earl Grey can add a lovely, delicate flavour)
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 80g (2¾oz) butter
• 2 tablespoons black treacle
• 50g (1¾oz) muscovado
• sugar
• 2 eggs
• 150g (5oz) self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pears, peeled and chopped into small cubes

For the sauce

• 150g (5oz) butter
• 300g (10½oz) muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon black treacle
• 200ml (¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) double cream

Method

1. Chop up your dates and pour your hot black tea over them, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda and leave for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat your oven to 160°C fan (350°F).
3. Cream your butter and black treacle together. Then add the sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger and mix well.
4. Once cooled, mash the dates into the tea and add them to the batter. Finally, stir in the chopped pears.
5. Combine and spoon the batter evenly into a greased muffin tin tray and bake for 20 minutes, until risen and firm.
6. To make the sauce, add the butter, sugar and black treacle to a pan and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted. Then turn up the heat and let it bubble for a minute or two to create a dark toffee coloured sauce. Take it off the heat and stir in the cream.
7. Serve warm with the puddings covered in the toffee sauce and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

The Hebridean Baker: A Scottish Christmas by Coinneach MacLeod is published by Black & White Publishing and is available now, priced £26.00