Sticky Toffee Puddings: Worth Turning On The Oven For

Shall I just leave this here?

Admittedly, I did not make the puddings pictured above, but that photograph represents everything sticky toffee puddings conjures up in my mind - good times and drinks with friends, a laugh and no worries. Yes, it does look a little decadent, maybe even a tad sinful. It certainly isn't a light and airy dessert. But it is worth every single mouthful. And then some. It even makes up for having to turn on the oven in the sweltering heat of summer, or in between two very busy, food-filled holidays in winter: this recipe makes twelve good sized muffins, so you either have desserts for days or enough for a large bunch of friends. You can even bake the sponge in a square brownie pan if you feel like feeding fewer people more generously.



The rich, soft sponge is filled to the brim with earthy, sticky dates, and the pool of toffee is like a warm blanket on a chilly day. If you're feeling a little virtuous, the caramel can be omitted: the cake is moist and delicious enough on its own, and is scrumptious for breakfast. Of course, with the onset of cold weather, there is really no need to be virtuous. The best part of this dessert is that it is a cinch to make: it takes the ease of a dump and stir cake, and takes it to the next level.



Every element of this dessert can be made ahead of time. The pudding will keep for a few days wrapped up at room temperature, but can easily be frozen for a later date, and the toffee can live in the fridge for several weeks, if not months. While I find that baking the sponge in muffin tins makes portioning a lot easier - you also get that craggy top that catches the sauce and any melting ice cream - baking it in a square or rectangle tin does make plating up dessert a lot simpler, since the scoop of vanilla ice cream is less likely to topple over on a flat surface.



As the name implies, this old school British dessert is normally served with a rich toffee sauce made with brown sugar or molasses. But I find brown sugar somewhat more temperamental than white sugar when it comes to caramel, so I prefer serving my sticky toffee puds with a salted butterscotch instead. I have posted the butterscotch recipe separately in order to give detailed instructions, so that I can assuage any qualms you may have about making caramel at home. So without further ado, here is the pudding recipe.



Sticky Toffee Pudding
Yields 12 medium-sized muffins or one 22cm/ 9" square pan

125g/ ½ cup tightly packed brown sugar
75g/ 6 Tbs unsalted butter
2 large eggs
275g/ 2 cups, loosely packed pitted dates
195g/ 1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp four-spice or gingerbread spice mix, optional

Place the pitted dates, baking soda and spice mix if using in a saucepan and cover with cold water. 
Bring water up to a boil, then lower the heat so that the dates simmer gently.
Leave to cook until the water has all but completely evaporated and dates are collapsing.
Remove pan from heat, throw in  butter and brown sugar, and set aside to cool down to room temperature.
While the dates are cooling down, butter and flour a baking pan. Set aside.
Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/ 350ºF.
Once the date mix is cooled, whisk in the butter and sugar.
Stir in the eggs one at a time, whisking in completely before adding the next one.
Gently stir in the flour and baking powder until all white specks are mixed in, and pour into prepared pan. 
If baking in muffin tins, fill each cavity only halfway.
Level the top of the batter.
Place pan in oven, and bake until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean, 25-30 minutes for muffin-sized cakes, or about 40 minutes for a 22cm/ 9" pan.
When done, leave to rest on a rack.
When cool enough to handle, remove from the pan and serve with butterscotch and ice cream.



Sticky toffee puddings are usually served warm. If the sponge was baked ahead of time, simply re-heat in a warm oven before generously drizzling with caramel. Although a scoop of vanilla ice cream is now standard with sticky toffs, heavy cream in all its forms (whipped or simply poured) or custard are customary.





Bon App'!