Preheat your slow cooker on low for 10 minutes and check your pudding bowl fits when the lid is closed.

Grease your bowl with a tablespoon of the butter and line with baking paper.

Pop the dates into a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Leave to soak for 30 minutes until they soften.

Put vanilla extract, 80g of sugar, the cream, half the treacle and half the butter into a pan. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

Turn up the heat for 3 more minutes.

Whisk the mixture and add a pinch of salt.

Pour a third of the mixture into your lined bowl, leaving the rest to reheat later for your sauce.

Remove the dates from the bowl, reserving the water, and chop.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the remaining sugar, treacle and butter with the beaten eggs.

Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ¼ teaspoon of salt, the dates and soaking water.

Spoon into the pudding bowl, leaving about a 1cm gap at the top.

Cover with greased baking paper and tinfoil, then make a central cut to allow the steam to escape and tie with string.

Place in your cooker.

Boil the kettle and pour in the water to fill halfway up the bowl.

Close the lid of the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove from your cooker and run a knife around the edge before turning out onto a plate.

When you serve, reheat the remaining sauce to pour over your slow cooked sticky toffee pudding.

Serve with clotted cream, custard or ice cream.