Old faithful

It's all about being creative in kitchen at our house at the moment.

I used to love making cakes, not just for us, but for school fetes, fundraisers and cake stalls but thought that had pretty much come to an end with the Child starting high school. Not so! When I received a note asking for contributions to an evening event at the school, I dug out the recipe for Old Faithful, that always went down a treat, literally, at primary school.

The first time I made it for public consumption the Child was in kindergarten. A parent bought it at a fete and then tracked me down to tell me how good it was after finding the Child's name and class on the bottom of the box.

It's a sticky date pudding cake with caramel icing, the recipe ripped from a magazine more than 10 years ago. I know not which one and as I've fiddled with the recipe a bit myself I offer it up light of heart and perhaps heavier of hip (after a slice or two. Try not licking the spoon when making the caramel icing. Impossible I tell you.).

I made two: one for the school and one for us as the Child is always disappointed if she misses out buying a piece of her own cake back. This way, she's guaranteed a slice in the lunchbox tomorrow.

Old Faithful
Sticky date pudding cake

• 500g pitted dates, chopped
• 1-1/4 cups boiling water
• 3/4 tsp bicarb soda
• 200g butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 3 tsps baking powder
• 2 tsps cinnamon

Caramel icing

• 75g butter
• 4 tbsps cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cups icing sugar

Set oven to 175C.
Soak dates in boiling water and bicarb soda.
Grease and flour ring or bundt tin.
Beat sugar and butter till creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Add vanilla.
Fold in dates.
Sift flour and cinnamon and fold in.
Bake around 40 mins.

For the icing, heat butter, cream, vanilla and sugar together until sugar is dissolved and then beat in sifted icing sugar until smooth. Dribble warm icing over cake.

See what others are up to in their creative spaces today here.