Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding is a British dessert consisting of a moist sponge cake dotted with sweet dates and soaked in a toffee sauce. It is then reheated and drizzled with more toffee sauce and served with a little cream or ice cream. 

Essentially, I have bred a STP with a sheet cake and yielded this delight. While it’s not quite the real thing, it's simpler and involves no hair-raising releasing from molds and no soaking then later flipping. It’s great to bring for a big group because you make it in advance and then at the last moment you just heat the toffee and pour it over. Serve with a little pitcher of cream.

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Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Yield: About 20 squares
Author:

A simplified twist on the British classic dessert.

Time

  • Prep: 20 minutes
  • Cook: 24 mins + up to 24 hours stickification time
  • Total: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • For the cake:
  • 8 oz medjool dates, pitted (about 15-20 dates)
  • ¾ cup boiling water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 ½ cups AP flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup demerara sugar
  • 6 TB butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 TB treacle (can use golden syrup or molasses if you need to – but pretty easy to find or order Lyle’s brand)
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • Toothpicks
  • For the toffee sauce:
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 4 TB butter
  • 1 cup heavy cream, divided + extra for serving
  • 1 TB treacle

Recipe

  1. 1. Finely chop the dates and put them in a bowl with the boiling water. Set aside for a few minutes to cool. Mash with a fork and stir in the vanilla. Put to one side while you do the rest.
  2. 2. Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9x13 pyrex dish.
  3. 3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
  4. 4. In another larger bowl, beat together the butter and demerara sugar. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Then whisk in the 2 TB of treacle. Beat until everything is evenly incorporated.
  5. 5. Alternating bit by bit, mix in some of the flour mixture then a splash of the milk. Repeat until all of the flour and milk is used up. Stir in the date and vanilla mixture here.
  6. 6. Pour it into the greased Pyrex and bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. 7. Meanwhile make the toffee sauce: combine sugar, butter and half of the cream into a little saucepan over medium heat and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in treacle. Bring to a rolling bubble and simmer for a couple of minutes until the sauce is thick and a rich brown. Remove from heat and stir in the other half of the cream.
  8. 8. When the sponge cake is done in the oven, but still warm, poke little holes all over it with a toothpick. Pour 1/3-1/2 of the toffee sauce all over the cake. Allow the cake to soak for a minimum of 30 minutes but if you can you should leave it out overnight for maximum stickiness (don’t put in fridge!) This means you can do up to this point ahead of time if you are making this for a party.
  9. 9. When it's time to serve, cover and warm the cake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Heat the remaining toffee sauce on the stove or in the microwave. Cut the sponge into squares, pour toffee sauce over the top and serve with a little cream to cut the sweetness.
Mary Bell ClementDessertComment