Preheat your oven to 350°.  Spray a 9” or 10” square baking dish with non-stick spray.  Add the flour and baking powder to a bowl and whisk together.  Put the dates in a small bowl, add the boiling water and baking soda; and stir until the baking soda dissolves.  Set these aside. 

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla; and blend just until combined.  Gradually add the flour and blend just until combined.  Add the date mixture to the batter and blend just until combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.  Bake until the pudding is set and firm on top.  This should take 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove the pudding from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool.

Now make the toffee sauce.  Add the butter, whipping cream and brown sugar to a small saucepan and heat to a simmer stirring constantly.  Simmer gently over medium low heat for 8 minutes as the mixture thickens.  If you want whipped cream make it now using the 1 cup of whipping cream.

Preheat your broiler.  Spoon about ⅓ of the toffee sauce evenly over the top of the pudding.  Put the pudding under the broiler with the top of the pudding 6” to 8” below the broiler. Broil for for 1 minute to make the toffee sauce bubbly.  Cut the pudding into whatever size you want and place the pieces on a plate to serve.  Drizzle each piece with left over toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream.