These are very versatile little puddings. They are essentially a variation on a sticky toffee pudding with apricots instead of dates and the addition of crunchy pecans. They are just as good as a dinner party dessert as a midweek supper treat and you could always serve them with custard instead of the caramel sauce to make them a little less of a “treat”. They will keep in an airtight tin or can be frozen, so make them ahead and warm to serve. And the caramel sauce keeps too.

I made these to take to a friend’s when we were invited to dinner. We had a lovely, relaxed evening with amazing food and finished it off with these puddings. It was a cold, wet and windy night but we walked there and back: there’s nothing better than comforting food to welcome you in from the cold and send you back out into the night. And the odd glass of wine doesn’t hurt either!

Recipe

Ingredients

Puddings

150g apricots, chopped

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

180ml boiling water

75g butter

90g soft brown sugar

2 eggs

50g pecans, chopped

150g SR flour

Caramel Sauce

300ml cream

150g soft brown sugar

150g butter

Method

Set the oven to 180°C and grease, and line the base of, 6 mini pudding moulds.

Put the apricots in a heatproof bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and pour over the boiling water. Allow to stand while you prepare the other ingredients.

Dont forget to chop your apricots and pecans

Put the apricots in a heatproof bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and pour over the boiling water. Allow to stand while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat well to incorporate fully.

Add the cooled apricot mixture and pecans and mix well.

Gently fold in the flour.

Distribute evenly among the prepared tins and place on a baking tray.

So maybe they had already been in the oven for a minute when I remembered to take this photo…

Bake for around 20 minutes until well risen and browned and firm to the touch.

Allow to cool in the tins for a few minutes before removing and serving or leaving to cool properly on a wire rack if serving later. They can be wrapped in clingfilm and stored in a tin and can be reheated in the oven or microwave.

You can level the puddings if you want to serve them upside down. (It makes a good tester too!)

To make the caramel sauce:

Put all the ingredients in a pan and bring gently to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter and to avoid it burning on the base.

Serve the puddings with the sauce drizzled over the top or in a jug – or both!

Categories: Baking, Cakes, Desserts, Fruit, Recipes

Tags: apricots, baking, cake, caramel sauce, cream, dessert, dinner party dessert, dried apricots, pecans, puddings, recipe