Cream the butter and sugar together, before adding the eggs and then the syrup (turn off your mixer to make life easier!) then finally add the flour and mix together.
Simmer the dates in the boiling water until soft, add the Bicarbonate of soda and seeds from the vanilla pod before blitzing into a paste.
Add the paste to the rest of the mixture and continue mixing until smooth.
Pour into greased pudding moulds and bake for 30 mins.
For the sauce, simply add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and slowly heat, mixing together until they all melt together to make a smooth sauce.
Turn out the puddings, cover in the toffee sauce and serve with vanilla ice cream
