Preheat oven 350 F
Soak the chopped dates in the boiling water and 1 tsp of baking soda for 10-15 minutes. Once the dates have soaked, you can use a fork and mash the dates up or you can pour it into into a blender and blend it a little.
In a large bowl, whisk together the soft butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Add the 2 eggs one a time until fully incorporated. Then add the molasses and mix.
Sift in the dry ingredients ( flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, pinch of salt) and mix until fully incorporated. Tip: Make sure not to over mix the batter. Pour the date and water mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
Pour the cake batter into a greased baking dish and spread the batter evenly.
Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cake spring back when touched.
While the cake is baking, make the toffee sauce.
Once the cake has baked, let it cool for 3-5 minutes. Then use a fork to make some holes in the cake. Then pour only 1/2 cup of the warm toffee sauce all over the top of the cake. Let it soak in the cake and then dig in. Serve the pudding with some more warm toffee sauce and ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!