Sticky spiced prune pudding with butter caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 20 x 30cm cake tin and line with baking paper. Put prunes, orange zest, juice and water in a large saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Add bicarb. Stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat, using the whisk attachment, until pale. Add vanilla, then eggs, 1 at a time.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, cardamom and ginger into a medium bowl, then stir into butter mixture. Add prune mixture and stir to combine, being careful not to over mix.

Pour prune mixture into prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

To make butter caramel sauce, put caster sugar and water in a medium heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook until a medium-coloured caramel.

Remove pan from heat, add butter and stir until melted. Add brown sugar, syrup, cream and salt, stirring after each addition. Return to heat, bring back to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes or until mixture reaches 113C on a sugar thermometer. Pour into a jug and allow to cool slightly.

Slice pudding, drizzle with sauce and serve with ice-cream and extra orange zest.