Moist & flavourful Sticky Banana Date Pudding with a spoon-licking, boozy, rum caramel sauce. Rich, delicious & truly indulgent! Made individually, these little puddings are baked in the oven & are no more difficult to make than muffins. Plus they can be made in advance & freeze perfectly. Great for making ahead!
10tablespoonsof rum(I used Kraken Black Spiced Rum but any dark rum will be fine - 10 tablespoons is about 2 miniature bottles. If you want to make this pudding alcohol free then use water instead)
6tablespoonscashew butter(almond butter would probably work too)
½teaspoonsalt
4to 8 tablespoons water
More walnuts for sprinkling(optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Grease 8 capacity of each about 175mls. (or an 8 x 8 pan - see recipe notes)
Line the bottom of each one with a circle of parchment paper.
In a large bowl add all of the dry ingredients - (sugar, cinnamon, salt, flour, baking powder and baking soda).
In a jug or another bowl, mix all of the wet ingredients together well - (mashed banana, liquid coconut oil, molasses, vanilla and milk).
Pour the wet into the dry and mix well but don't over mix. Just enough to get everything combined enough that you can't see any dry flour.
Pour in the walnuts and dates and stir well again.
Spoon the mixture into the 8 prepared tins. Level the tops, place on a baking sheet and bake for 25 - 30 mins. When done they start coming away from the sides a bit and the sponge on top will bounce back if you poke it with a finger. The tooth pick test isn't too reliable because of the banana bits in it.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately or leave to cool in their tins.
For the rum caramel
Add the coconut sugar and the rum to a small pan.
Heat over a medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar is completely melted and both are combined. It only takes a minute or two. As soon as it starts bubbling remove from the heat.
Stir in the cashew butter and the salt and 4 tablespoons of the water.
Put back over a low heat and stir well until combined. The light coloured flecks will lessen as you stir. Don't let it boil as it can burn really easily. Remove from the heat if it gets too hot,
Check the consistency. I used a total of 8 tablespoons of water in mine but it will vary depending on how liquidy your cashew butter is. Just add enough to make it a thickish, very pourable caramel consistency.
It is ready in a few minutes, as soon as it is combined well.
Serve the puddings straight from the oven with a drizzle of warm rum caramel sauce, a sprinkle of chopped walnuts and a dollop of ice-cream or some coconut whipped cream.
NOTES
These Baked Banana Puddings freeze brilliantly. Just keep them in their tins and wrap them well in cling wrap or pop into a freezer bag or freezable sealed container. When you want to eat them you can bake them straight from the freezer. They take about 30 minutes on 350°F to cook through. If they aren’t frozen they only take about 15 minutes to heat through.The rum caramel sauce will keep for up to 10 days in a sealed container in the fridge.Just warm it through gently in a small pan or in the microwave.If you do not have individual pudding basins then you can also cook this recipe in a 8 x 8 brownie pan. It will taken about 40 - 45 minutes to cook through. Leave to cool in the tin and cut into squares to serve.