Pre heat oven to 180°C. Butter the loaf tin and line with greaseproof paper.
For the Date Pudding
Put the water, dates, figs and bicarbonate of soda in a pan, bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add a third of the jar of marmalade stir to mix, cool and put in the fridge until completely cold.
Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugar together for about 4 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add one of the eggs and approximately 1 tablespoon of the flour and mix thoroughly. Repeat the process until the eggs and all the flour has been added, then mix in the date and fig mixture.
Put half of this mixture into the loaf tin and using a teaspoon add a third of the whisky marmalade in ‘spoonfuls’ on top of the mixture – don’t mix in. Cover with remaining pudding mixture. Put the remaining third of the jar of whisky marmalade, again in teaspoons, over the top of the pudding.
Cover the tin loosely with foil to allow the cake to rise. Place in the centre of the oven for approximately 40 minutes. Test with a skewer which, when removed, should be slightly sticky.
For the Orange and Caramel Sauce
Put the sugars and water into a pan and place on a high heat. Bring to the boil and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to achieve a deep caramel colour.
Add the juice of the orange and gradually add the butter stirring from time to time until it has dissolved.
Turn down the heat and leave to gently simmer for 12 minutes. Take the pan of the heat, add the orange zest and the chopped orange segments. Set aside to allow to come to room temperature.
To Serve
Using a slotted spoon, take the segments out of the sauce, pour the remaining orange sauce over thick slices of date pudding, arrange reserved orange segments on top of the pudding and serve with pouring cream.
