Sticky Toffee Pudding
Date sponge with a deeply caramel toffee sauce that gets poured over and around the pudding to soak in. The British end-of-Sunday-lunch winter pudding; debatably invented in the Lake District in the 1970s; entirely beloved.
Overview
Dates are soaked in boiling water with bicarbonate of soda (which softens them and gives the sponge its dark colour). The dates are blended smooth, mixed into a butter-sugar-egg-flour batter, and baked. While it bakes, a toffee sauce is built: butter, brown sugar and cream simmered to glossy. Holes are poked in the warm pudding; the sauce is poured over.
Ingredients
Sponge
- 200 g pitted Medjool dates (chopped)
- 250 ml boiling water
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 175 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 75 g unsalted butter (softened)
- 175 g soft dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs (large)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Toffee sauce
- 175 g soft dark brown sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 250 ml double cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A pinch of flaky sea salt
To serve
- Vanilla ice cream (or extra cream)
Method
Stage 1 - Soften the dates
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- Place the chopped dates in a small bowl with the bicarbonate of soda.
- Pour over the boiling water; let sit 10 minutes.
- Blend smooth with an immersion blender (or push through a sieve).
Stage 2 - Sponge batter
- Cream the butter and brown sugar in a bowl until light.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Fold in the flour and baking powder alternately with the date paste.
- The batter is loose; that's correct.
Stage 3 - Bake
- Pour into a buttered 22 x 22 cm baking dish (or 6-8 small ramekins).
- Bake 30-35 minutes (or 18-20 for ramekins) until well-risen and a skewer comes out with moist crumbs.
Stage 4 - Toffee sauce
- Combine the brown sugar, butter, cream and vanilla in a heavy pan.
- Heat gently until the butter melts and sugar dissolves.
- Bring to a simmer; cook 4-5 minutes until glossy and slightly thickened.
- Stir in the salt.
Stage 5 - Soak and serve
- Remove the pudding from the oven.
- Poke holes all over with a skewer.
- Pour about half the sauce over slowly, letting it soak in.
- Rest 5 minutes.
- Serve warm in bowls; pour extra sauce over.
- Top with ice cream or pour cold cream alongside.
Notes
- Medjool dates: Bigger, softer, more caramel. Standard cooking dates work but soak them slightly longer.
- Bicarbonate of soda is structural: Reacts with the dates to give the deep brown colour and tender crumb.
- Don't undercook the sauce: A pale sauce tastes flat. Simmer until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon.
Storage
- Pudding keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat at 160°C for 12 minutes (or microwave a portion 60 seconds).
- Sauce keeps 1 week refrigerated; warm to pour.
- Pudding freezes 2 months baked.
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