Step 1

Pour 3/4 cup of the heavy cream into a small saucepan. Add the butter, light corn syrup, and sugar. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce to simmer and cook over low heat, stirring every so often. Cook until the sauce turns a deep amber color. This should take about 40 minutes.

Step 2

When the toffee sauce reaches the perfect shade, take it off of the heat and whisk in the remaining heavy cream followed by the salt. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Step 3

While the toffee sauce is cooking, make the sponge. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease either an 8x8 pan or six 1/2 cup ramekins with melted butter. ** Set them aside.

Step 4

Place the dates in a saucepan. Add the water and place over medium heat. Once the water is mostly absorbed, take the saucepan off of the heat and add the baking soda, it will bubble like mad - just keep stirring. ***

Step 5

In a large bowl, whisk to combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, ground ginger, and ground cardamom.

Step 6

Set the dry ingredients aside and in a separated bowl add the butter and light brown sugar. Cream the two together using a stand or hand mixer before the egg. Beat the egg into the butter/sugar mixture until smooth. Fold the dates into the wet ingredients.

Step 7

Form a well in the center of the dry ingredient and add the wet. Stir to combine but don’t over mix. Evenly divide the batter across the six grease ramekins or pour it into your prepared 8x8 pan. Smooth the top and transfer to the oven.

Step 8

If baking in ramekins, bake the puddings for 30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in the center and removed cleanly. If you’re baking your pudding in a pan the bake time will be closer to If you used a pan let the cake cool slightly before slicing and serving. But if you used ramekins, let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before carefully unmolding them onto a cooling rack.

Step 9

Transfer a warm cake to a plate and spoon some of the toffee sauce over top. Add a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream and finish with a final drizzle of toffee sauce. Serve immediately.