Cardamom & pistachio sticky toffee pudding

Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4. Bring a kettle to the boil. Crush the seeds from the cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar until finely ground (discard the pods). Remove the stones from the dates, roughly chop the flesh and put in a heatproof bowl with 2/3 of the ground cardamom, the chai tea bags and bicarbonate of soda. Pour 175ml just-boiled water over the date mixture; set aside. Meanwhile, grease a 20cm x 30cm roasting tin or ovenproof dish with butter.

Put 160g butter and the light brown soft sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer (or in a stand mixer) until pale and smooth (about 5-7 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Remove the tea bags from the dates, then mix the contents of the bowl into the butter mixture. Sift in the flour and salt, pour in the milk, then gently fold together until smooth and just combined. Spoon into the greased tin and level the top. Scatter over 2/3 of the chopped pistachios, then bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through; a skewer inserted into the centre should come out fairly clean.

Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce. Put the remaining 90g butter in a small pan with the dark brown soft sugar, remaining ground cardamom and the double cream. Bring to a simmer, cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat. When the cake is ready, pierce evenly with a skewer and spoon over ½ of the toffee sauce. Leave for 5 minutes, then serve with the remaining sauce poured over the top, scattered with the remaining chopped nuts. Serve with ice cream, if liked.