Sticky Toffee Puddings

For the Puddings:
110g California Raisins (soaked in 60ml boiling water and 25ml dark rum)
40g unsalted butter
70g dark muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp golden syrup
85g self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50ml whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Toffee Sauce:
85g light muscovado sugar
25g unsalted butter
110ml double cream
1 tbsp golden syrup

1. Soak California Raisins in boiling water and dark rum overnight in a covered container before you start making the puddings. You want them plump, soft, and mashable!
2. To make the puddings, beat butter and dark muscovado sugar until creamy. Add the egg and golden syrup and incorporate into one smooth mixture.
3. Combine self-raising flour and bicarb in one small bowl and combine milk and vanilla extract in a jug. Alternate gently folding the dry ingredients into the pudding mixture with adding the milk mixture. I find that adding half dry, followed by half wet, and repeating was slowly and gently enough.
4. Mash or blitz your soaked California Raisins using either a fork or a food processor. You want to deconstruct the raisins as much as possible and create a paste. Fold this paste gently into the pudding mix.
5. Grease a 6x cavity muffin tin liberally (I use a spray release product for this but a kitchen towel soaked in butter works too) and pour the pudding mix almost to the top of each cavity. Bake in a 160°C pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until risen.
6. While the puddings are baking, you can prepare the Toffee Sauce. Weigh butter, light muscovado sugar, and half of your double cream into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved into the melted butter. Add the golden syrup and turn up the heat to medium, allowing the sauce to bubble for 2 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the remaining cream.
7. Once baked, allow the puddings to cool in the tin for 2-3 minutes before turning them out into an oven-proof dish. They should fall out easily if you have greased your tin sufficiently.
   Pour half of the Toffee Sauce over the puddings and allow them to steep until you are ready to serve. Puddings can be soaked for up to 2 days in advance.
   To serve, cover the dish with tin foil and heat for 10-15 minutes in a 160°C oven. Warm the remaining Toffee Sauce and pour this over the hot puddings.