EASY APRICOT AND PECAN PUDDING WITH BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE
This pudding can be made and stored for up to a week in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 40 seconds on high before serving with piping hot butterscotch sauce. This recipe preferably requires six small 150ml baking molds, but you can use individual soufflé molds or if you are using a large 10cm cake tin, bake the pudding in a Bain Marie for 70 minutes or until a skewer entered in the centre comes out clean.
PREPARATION TIME: 45 MINUTES. COOKING TIME: 38 MINUTES. SERVES: 6 PEOPLE.

INGREDIENTS
FOR THE PUDDING:
150 g dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 tsp baking powder
250 ml boiling water

100 g softened butter,
plus an extra 40 g for
greasing the baking molds
100 g soft brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
180 g self-raising flour
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
50 g pecan nuts

FOR THE BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE:
250 ml fresh cream
150 g brown/ Demerara/ muscovado sugar
75 g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
Vanilla bean ice-cream or thickened cream to serve.

METHOD
1. To roast pecan nuts, preheat the oven at 160°C and roast the whole nuts for nine minutes. Cool and roughly chop the nuts.

2. In a heatproof bowl, mix the chopped apricots with hot water. Leave for 30 minutes and cool at room temperature.

3. Preheat the oven at 160°C and boil a pot of water for the Bain Marie (i.e. a baking tin large enough to fit the small pudding molds in water). Grease molds well with butter.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until a pale creamy consistency. Gradually add the eggs, baking powder, ground cinnamon and flour. Strain the soaked apricots to remove the residual water and add the apricots to the batter. Fold in the chopped pecan nuts into the batter. Divide the batter into the individual molds (approximately 100g of batter per potion) and place in a Bain Marie. With hot water, carefully fill the Bain Marie until the water level reaches halfway up the height of the molds. Avoid the water from splashing into the batter as this will leave watery pothole marks in the pudding.

5. Immediately place this in the oven and bake the puddings for 38 minutes until a skewer entered in the centre of each pudding comes out clean. Remove the molds from the Bain Marie and cool for 5 minutes before turning them out. (If you are using ceramic soufflé molds, you may leave them in the molds and serve them as is).

6. While the puddings bake, make the butterscotch sauce by placing the cream, sugar, vanilla and butter in a deep saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes until sticky and toffee-like. Constantly stir the toffee while it is boiling to prevent the bottom of the saucepan from burning.

7. To serve, heat the puddings and sauce separately in a microwave for 40 seconds. Generously pour the sauce over the puddings before topping it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or thickened cream for extra decadence.