Ingredients (serves 4)
1 cup self-raising flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
150g (about 6) fresh dates, deseeded, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
75g butter, melted, cooled
Cream or vanilla ice-cream, to serve

Sauce:
2/3 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease four 1 1/4-cup capacity, ovenproof ramekins and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Stir in caster sugar and dates (make sure dates don't clump). Whisk vanilla, milk, egg and butter together in a jug. Pour into flour mixture. Gently stir to combine. Spoon into prepared dishes. Smooth surface.

Make sauce:
Combine brown sugar and cocoa in a bowl. Sprinkle over puddings. Combine boiling water and coffee powder in a heatproof jug, stirring to dissolve coffee. Pour 1/3 cup coffee over the back of a metal spoon, over each pudding.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted halfway into puddings comes out clean and sauce bubbles around the edges.
Serve immediately with cream or ice-cream.