Best Sticky Toffee Pudding
Sticky Toffee Pudding is that very British kind of food whose description is misleading to Americans on its face. Sticky? Toffee is crunchy, not sticky. Pudding? To Americans that means it is about as liquid as it is solid, not cake-like at all. But Sticky Toffee Pudding is a rich, gooey very moist cake that boasts dates as a key ingredient and a dark brown sugar sauce reminiscent in flavor to toffee – but definitely not crunchy.
This is a favorite across Great Britain for a very good reason, it is absolutely delicious! The traveler in your family (almost every family has one) may have been exposed to Sticky Toffee Pudding but its acceptance in the USA is spotty. Let’s put an end to that right here. Add this dish to your dessert bucket list.
Sticky Toffee Pudding consists of two elements, the Pudding (a moist cake) and the sauce (the Sticky Toffee part). The sauce is generally applied twice, once to go under a broiler and the second time on the side as the puddings are served.
The Pudding
- Calls for Demerara sugar as well as dark brown sugar. Demerara sugar has large, light brown granules very similar to the coarser grained versions of raw sugar/Sugar in the Raw©.
- Dates are easily found in the wintertime, which makes Sticky Toffee Pudding a seasonal favorite especially for the Holidays.
- A food processor helps immensely to generate small bits of date for dispersion throughout the pudding.
- Some Sticky Toffee Pudding recipes call for strong tea, dark chocolate or molasses. Some call for dark corn syrup or golden syrup.
- I have developed this version with an eye for easier-to-find ingredients here in the States that doesn’t stray too far afield from the comfort food deliciousness that is Sticky Toffee Pudding.
- You can make individual puddings in muffin tins, or as one large pudding to be portioned at the table.
The Sauce
- Dark sugar, cream and butter. Simple and wonderful.
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a rich, gooey very moist cake that boasts dates as a key ingredient and a dark brown sugar sauce reminiscent in flavor to toffee.
- 8 oz Pitted Dates (chopped)
- 1 cup Boiling Water
- 1 Tea Bag (preferably English Breakfast)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/8 cup Flour (1 cup and 2 tablespoon)
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Demerara Sugar (Coarse raw sugar works here)
- 1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 4 oz Butter (Softened)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream (1 pint)
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar (firmly packed, 7.5 oz.)
- 1/2 cup Butter (1 stick)
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease well with butter, then flour a 12-cup muffin tin or a bundt cake pan
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Boil the water, take off heat and steep the tea bag in the hot water for 3 minutes.
Remove tea bag and immediately add chopped dates. Let soak for 15 minutes.
Stir baking soda into the dates, then pour mixture into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. (Some small pieces are fine.) Set aside.
In your mixer's bowl, cream butter together with the raw (Demerara) sugar and brown sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition, then add vanilla.
Incorporate the flour mixture, alternating with the date puree until well mixed.
Immediately spoon into muffin cups or cake pan.
If you have one, a cookie scoop is very helpful for portioning.Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the center is just firm to the touch. (For a bundt pan, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes)
While the pudding is baking, make the toffee topping. Melt the butter and brown sugar together. Slowly add the salt and cream.
Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce bubbles and becomes smooth.
Remove puddings from cupcake pan and place on a lined cookie sheet. Using a narrow chopstick or skewer, poke 3 - 4 holes into each pudding, Spoon about 1 tablespoon of sauce over each, or 1 cup of toffee sauce over the large cake, in the pan. Broil until topping bubbles and becomes sticky.
Depending on your broiler, this will take about 2 minutes. Watch closely to prevent burning.
Using a spatula, transfer each pudding to its serving dish, preferably a small bowl. Spoon extra sauce over each pudding and top with whipped cream if desired.