Cut the dates in half and remove seeds. Put in a bowl and add the boiling water and bicarbonate soda. Let it sit for about 20 min.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees(C). Melt butter in microwave and mix with sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs and mix well. Next add the flour and dates and water mixture. Stir it slowly so it does not splash and mix well.

Pour mixture into cake tin and bake until cooked. It sould spring back when touched and insert a chopstick if middle is cooked nothing will stick to it.

Mix the sauce ingredients and simmer on low heat for 5 min.

Poke many holes through the top of the pudding and pour half the sauce over it. Let it sit for 15 minutes and serve with the remaining sauce. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.