• 250ml Almond Milk or plant milk, shop-bought or home-made
• 200g Medjool dates, stoned (pitted)
• 1oog coconut sugar
• 100ml coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 200g Gluten-free flour (doves farm)
• 1 vanilla pod (bean), seeds scraped (or one teaspoon of vanilla paste)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
• pinch of pink Himalayan salt

For the sticky toffee sauce:

• 200g coconut sugar
• 250ml coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

To serve:

Vanilla Custard:

• 2 tablespoons very fine cornflour (cornstarch)
• 500ml coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 whole vanilla pod (bean), scraped (or vanilla paste)

• Preheat the oven to 165oc. Line an 8-inch square cake tin (pan) with greaseproof paper or use a good-quality silicone mold.
• Start with the pudding. In a small saucepan gently heat the milk and dates for 5–10 minutes until the dates have softened. Once softened, set aside.
• In a blender, blitz the coconut sugar and coconut oil until the sugar has mostly disintegrated. Add the baking soda to the milk and date mix – it will start to fizz and bubble, but that is okay.
• In a bowl, combine the flour, vanilla, spices, pinch of salt, coconut oil and sugar mix along with the dates and milk mixture and give everything a good stir.
• Pour into the cake tin (pan) and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the coconut sugar and coconut milk and let it heat through.
• Add the salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for 20 minutes until the caramel has thickened. Stir it occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. A great way of knowing if it’s ready is to see if it sticks to the back of your spoon.
• Stir in a little more salt if desired and either use it straight away or let it cool down before storing in a glass jar – it will become even thicker as it cools.
• Once the cake is done, transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy with a home-made custard (below) and a drizzle of sticky toffee sauce.
• Blend the cornflour with a little bit of the coconut milk in a medium pan over medium heat, whisking until you have an even consistency. Then add the rest of the ingredients including the scraped vanilla pod – there is still a lot of goodness there – whisking until the cornflour and vanilla are fully incorporated into the coconut milk.
• Whisk until the custard starts to thicken and then, as soon as the mixture begins to boil, take it off the heat and let it cool.