Sticky Toffee Pudding

Yes, the time has come to learn how to make a very nice desert. This time it is the delectable classic, the sticky toffee pudding.

You will need:
190g unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar (raw or soft)
One quarter cup golden syrup (you can use maple syrup)
2 large eggs
1 cup of self-raising flower

What you need to do:
Firstly, turn your oven on to 180'C. Then grease a pudding basin, around 1.25 litres in capacity.
Put the golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan, along with 70g of the sugar and 70g butter.
Heat the ingredients gently until the sugar dissolves, and the butter melts. Stir on the heat until the mixture becomes smooth.
Pour half of this mixture into the greased pudding basin. The left-over toffee sauce will be used for serving.
Now put the remaining sugar and butter in the saucepan and heat until the mixture is smooth (sugar melted, sugar dissolved). Then remove from the heat and leave to cool and stand for ten minutes.
Once the ten minutes has passed, crack the two eggs into a cup and beat well with a fork, for about a minute or so.
Then add this to the mixture in the saucepan, and beat until well combined.
Get out a clean, dry mixing bowl and pour the cup of flour into it. Shake to remove any clumps. Push the flour to the sides of the bowl to make a well in the centre, then pour in the liquid mixture. Thoroughly stir the batter until all ingredients are evenly combined.
Spoon into the pudding basin.

Bake for about forty minutes, and the outside of the pudding is springy to the touch. When I made mine, the outside wasn't springy like muffins, but quite hard. The outside was like a crispy crust, and actually quite nice, so don't be deterred if it's not ''spongy''.
Run a round-bladed knife around the edge of the pudding and gently turn onto a plate.
Re-heat the sauce and pour over the top. Serve immediately.
I found that there wasn't quite enough sauce when I made mine, so just make another lot of sauce then combine the two mixtures together.

Note that if you use maple syrup it changes it into a 'maple pudding', because maple syrup is a strong and distinctive flavour.

This desert is reasonably simple, and very nice. It's a treat for the whole family and great for dinner parties or just an indulgence on a cold winter's night.

[This entry is based on the recipe from Successful Baking, but I have altered it after my experiences making the pudding, and have re-written all the instructions. ]