A rich, sticky date pudding topped with toffee sauce.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (or 160°C/325°F if you're using a fan or convection oven). Line a 9x12" tin with baking paper.
In a small mug or bowl, pour the boiling hot tea over the chopped dates. Let it soak for 5 minutes, then use a fork to mash the dates up a bit. The mixture should be quite lumpy and sticky.
In a large bowl, mix together the margarine and brown sugar. Add the date mixture and the vanilla extract and mix well.
Add half of the flour to the bowl and mix it in gently. Then add the rest of the flour along with the baking soda. Fold it in until you have a thick pudding batter.
Pour the batter into your lined baking tin and spread it out evenly. Bake for 20 minutes.
While the pudding is baking, prepare the sticky toffee sauce.
Add the margarine and brown sugar into a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir occasionally until the butter has fully melted.
Add the coconut milk and stir it in. Leave the sauce to simmer for a few minutes without stirring. When it starts to bubble, remove it from the heat. The sauce will be a little runny but will thicken as it cools.
As soon as the pudding comes out of the oven, poke small holes all over it using a knife. This will allow the sauce to penetrate the pudding properly.
Pour the toffee sauce all over the pudding and spread it out evenly. Leave a small amount of sauce aside for serving.
Leave it to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving warm with ice cream and the remaining sauce.