Method (sponge)

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C fan and line a 9×9 square baking tin with grease proof paper. 
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add in the flour, baking powder and ground spices. Stir together with a hand whisk to combine. 
3. De-stone and roughly chop the dates into small pieces. Add the chopped dates into a medium sized saucepan along with the dairy-free milk. Heat this on a medium heat, stirring with a heat proof spatula for around 8-10 minutes, or until the dates have softened. 
4. Once the dates are soft, add in the dairy-free butter and both sugars, stir in until fully melted. Remove from the heat. 
5. Pour the date mix from the saucepan into the dry ingredients and mix into a thick batter forms (don’t over mix, only mix until no dry ingredients are visible). 
6. Pour into your lined tin, use a off-set spatula to smooth this down, getting right into the corners of the tin. 
7. Place in the middle of the preheated oven and bake for appropriately 28-30 minutes, or until a skewer / toothpick inserted into the center of the sponge comes out clean.
8. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to sit at room temperature to cool while you make the toffee sauce. 

Method (toffee sauce)

1. Add all your toffee sauce ingredients to a large saucepan, place on the hob over a medium heat. stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted and incorporated.  Ensure the cornstarch has fully combined and there aren’t any lumps. If so, whisk vigorously.
2. Bring the sauce to the boil and stir for 1-2 minutes until it thickens slightly. 
3. Once thick, allow it to cool for a few moments. Poke some holes in the sponge (this allows the toffee sauce to soak all the way through the cake).
4. Pour half or most of the toffee sauce over the baked pudding. Save some for drizzling over the cake and ice-cream before serving.  Watch me make the cake here! 
5. Slice the sponge into servings and serve right away, or serve with a drizzle of whipped cream, custard, or ice cream like I did.

Method (ice-cream)

1. In a bowl, combine all of the gingerbread ice-cream ingredients together until combined. 
2. Pour the mixture into the Ninja Swirl pint container, filling it up to the maximum fill line. Make sure the mixture is level on top so it freezes evenly.
3. Place the pint (without the blade lid) in the freezer for at least 24 hours, or until it’s completely solid all the way through. This step is important for the machine to work properly and product ice-cream which swirls! 
4. Once the ice-cream has frozen, remove the frozen pint from the freezer, attach the blade lid, and lock it into the machine.
5. Choose the “Ice Cream” or equivalent preset (depending on your model) – I use the Ninja Swirl Machine. 
6. Swirl the ice-cream in little serving dishes to serve alongside the gingerbread sticky toffee pudding, or even swirl directly on top of the dessert! Do this just before serving as the warmth from the pudding will melt the ice-cream (so yummy!!!). 
7. Serve with a drizzle of toffee sauce and iced gingerbread men!