I see Bert’s inherited my thighs.
These are so delicious, I might have two.
As with sticky toffee pudding, the dates and dark sugar combine to create a dark toffee gooeyness. The icing is only just sweet, so it’s not sickly at all – New York cheesecake in icing form.
Makes 12 muffins
3 ripe bananas, mashed
175 muscavado (dark brown) sugar
175ml sunflower oil
100g chopped dates
175g brown self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs, lightly beaten
For the frosting (to top half the cakes – double the quantities to top them all):
150g soft cheese
100g sieved golden icing sugar
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/ 180 degrees. Gently stir all of the cake ingredients together until only just combined (this and the sunflower oil make them really light) then spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases. Bake them for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly in the tin then lift them onto a cooling rack to completely cool. I froze half the cakes at this point.
Beat the sugar and cheese together till combined then top the cooled cakes with it.
You can switch the banana for grated carrot and the chopped dates for raisins to make little carrot cakes.