Sticky toffee pudding

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Today I want to share a classic British dessert: a sweet, moist cake with dates, doused in caramel sauce - sticky toffee pudding.


Sticky toffee pudding is best eaten warm, but don't worry - it's just as excellent when reheated on the second day! The dessert comes out light and fluffy, but moist at the same time. Interestingly, the cake itself is not too sweet at all - most of sweetness is rather coming from the toffee sauce. Altogether it's a delicious, addictive combination that I'd encourage everyone to try.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (for a 18 x 28 cm baking tin)

Cake

  •  250 g pitted dates
  • 250 ml hot water
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 300 g (~2 cups) wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 150 g butter
  • 180 g brown sugar - I'm using 90 g light brown sugar and 90 g dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 180 ml milk

Toffee sauce

  • 180 g dark brown sugar
  • 60 g butter
  • 240 g whipping cream (36%)

Method

  1. Put 250 g finely chopped dates into a medium bowl. Add 250 ml hot, freshly boiled water and a flat teaspoon of baking soda. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly and ensure that all date pieces are submerged. Set the bowl aside for around 30 minutes to soak. Blend dates after this time until almost smooth. Once you've got the right texture, set dates aside.
  2. Sift 300 g wheat flour and 2 tsp baking powder through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. Add a small pinch of salt and stir through the mixture shortly with a whisk to ensure everything is evenly distributed. Set the dry ingredients aside.
  3. Put 150 g soft butter, 90 g light brown sugar and 90 g dark brown sugar into a separate, large bowl. Cream fat and sugar together with an electric mixer until sugar dissolves, and butter becomes relatively light and fluffy. It will take a while, so be patient. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula from time to time.
  4. Once you've got the right texture, add 3 large eggs to the butter. Do it slowly, one egg at a time, and cream the contents of the bowl together well before adding the next one.
  5. Once you've used up all the eggs add blended dates and 2 tsp vanilla extract to the batter. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly, only until dates get evenly distributed. Pour 180 ml milk into the batter next and stir shortly again, until evenly distributed. Batter will be very grainy at this stage.
  6. Add flour in a few batches, a few tablespoons at a time, mixing it gently into the batter with a silicone spatula.
  7. Pour ready batter into a baking tin, 18 x 28 cm. The bottom of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper, and its sides greased and dusted with flour. Spread the batter evenly across the surface of the baking tin and even out the top.
  8. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 170 deg C, no fan, for 40-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, and the top is springy to the touch. If the cake browns too quickly, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil or baking paper.
  9. Roughly 10 minutes before the end of baking time prepare sauce that you'll use to soak and decorate the cake. Put 60 g butter, 180 g dark brown sugar and about a half of prepared whipping cream (120 g) into a pot with a thick bottom. Turn on the heat under the pot to medium and stir its contents with a spatula until all ingredients combine. Once you've got a uniform liquid bring it to a boil. Cook the sauce for around 3 minutes until it thickens up and becomes slightly darker. It is important to keep stirring to prevent the sauce from burning and becoming bitter.
  10. Take pot off heat after 3 minutes and add remaining whipping cream to sauce. Do it slowly while continuing to stir the sauce with a spatula. Transfer the sauce into a jug that will make it easy to pour sauce on top of the cake, and set it aside until cake is ready.
  11. Take ready cake out of the oven. Prick the cake straight away with a thick wooden skewer. Pour around a half of hot caramel sauce on top of the cake, trying to cover the whole surface of the cake. Leave the cake on the countertop for around 10 minutes, until it absorbs the toffee sauce. Slice up the cake immediately afterwards, pour extra sauce on top of each slice and serve, ideally with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
  12. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

  • 342 kcal
  • Carbs: 44 g  
  • Fat: 17 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

1 slice (recipe makes 20 slices)

  • 297 kcal
  • Carbs: 38 g
  • Fat: 15 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 1 g

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