Step 1

For the toffee sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then add the sugar, molasses, espresso powder and salt. Whisk to work out any lumps, then continue to cook over low heat.

Step 2

When bubbles appear at the edge of the pan, whisk in the cream and bring to a bare simmer. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and set aside.

Step 3

For the cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 degrees F.

Step 4

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Step 5

Place 150 grams of the pitted dates and the boiling water in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the standard S-blade. Allow to soak for 2 minutes, then pulse 3 times.

Step 6

Add the eggs, butter, both sugars, the vanilla extract and espresso powder to the food processor and pulse 5 times. Follow with the flour mixture and the remaining dates and pulse 3 more times.

Step 7

Coat the bottom of each well in a 6-cup popover pan with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the toffee sauce. Follow with the batter, filling each cup 3/4 of the way full (see Cook's Note). You may have a few tablespoons of batter leftover depending on the size of your popover pan.

Step 8

Bake for 11 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and tap either on the oven door or countertop 3 times to deflate. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake another 11 minutes or until the middle of the cakes reach 210 degrees F.

Step 9

Place the popover pan on a half-sheet pan and run a skewer around the outer rims to loosen the cakes. Pierce each cake several times with the skewer, poking all the way down to the bottom of the pan. Pour 1 tablespoon of toffee sauce over each pudding and let soak for 30 minutes.

Step 10

When ready to serve, heat your broiler to high and broil the puddings until bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and immediately run the skewer around the outer rims, cover with a clean sheet pan and invert to release.

Step 11

Serve with more toffee sauce spooned over each pudding.