The normal answer is that it was invented in the 1970s by Francis Coulson who was working at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in the Lake District. However, chef Simon Hopkinson has admitted that Coulson told him she'd adapted the idea from a Mrs Martin of Lancashire who in turn had been given the recipe by a friend in Canada. But let's not let facts get in the way of our good old British claim that this pudding is OURS.

Coulson's recipe used chopped dates softened in boiling water, Hopkinson used blended dates, I use both. Jamie Oliver uses yoghurt and Ovaltine, Tamasin Day-Lewis uses apricots instead of dates (HERESY), Delia adds pecans and grills the top for a bit of crunch.

However you make yours, make it this month as an antidote to chilly, dark evenings. Whether you add ice-cream, custard or cream is up to you, but you're wrong if you don't choose custard...

SERVES 6

375g dates, simmered in 375 ml water

• Drain and chop 2 dessertspoons, and purée the remainder in a food blender.

130g butter
375g soft brown sugar
3 medium eggs
450g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of bicarbonate of soda

• Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

• Sift the flour, the baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda. Slowly add the flour mix and the beaten eggs alternately to the creamed butter and sugar.

• Add the purée of dates and the chopped dates.

• Place in a well buttered pudding basin or perhaps a loaf tin, bake at Gas Mark 3/170°C for 50-60 minutes.

• Serve with the toffee sauce.

Toffee Sauce:

640 ml double cream
340g soft brown sugar
130g butter

• Simmer all ingredients together stirring frequently, until smooth.