Sticky toffee pudding
There is not a gram of caramel in this sponge — the dark colour and deep flavour come from dates soaked in boiling water with bicarbonate of soda. The soda raises the pH, so the dates collapse to a purée and brown far more than they could on their own — soda darkens gingerbread in much the same way. The toffee sauce goes onto a warm sponge pricked all over with a skewer, so it sinks in rather than running off.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Dates 15 min
- Batter 12 min
- Baking 30 min
- Toffee sauce 12 min
- Soaking 6 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSoak the dates in boiling water with soda
Pour boiling water over the chopped dates, add the bicarbonate of soda and leave for 15 minutes. The mixture will foam and darken. The soda softens the fibres and speeds up browning — without it the sponge stays pale and tastes noticeably less caramelised.
Ingredients: 250 g dates · 300 ml boiling water · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 90 g butter · 150 g soft brown sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 220 g plain flour · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
After a quarter of an hour the dates collapse under a fork.Mash the dates to a coarse purée
Mash with a fork to a coarse, uneven purée, liquid and all. Do not blend smooth — pieces of date in the batter give bites of different moisture, and that is what gives this pudding its character.
Ingredients: 250 g dates · 300 ml boiling water · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 90 g butter · 150 g soft brown sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 220 g plain flour · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
Cream the butter, sugar and eggs
Beat the butter with the brown sugar for 3 minutes, then add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. If the mixture splits, add a spoonful of flour from the weighed amount — that often happens with cold eggs and does the sponge no harm.
Ingredients: 250 g dates · 300 ml boiling water · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 90 g butter · 150 g soft brown sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 220 g plain flour · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
Fold in flour and dates
Add the flour with the baking powder and salt, mix just to combine, then pour in the warm date mixture. The batter will be very loose, almost pourable — as it should be. That extra water evaporates and leaves a moist, spongy crumb.
Ingredients: 250 g dates · 300 ml boiling water · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 90 g butter · 150 g soft brown sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 220 g plain flour · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
The batter is pourable — that is not a mistake.Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C
Pour into a buttered, lined 20×20 cm tin and bake in an oven heated to 180°C for 30 minutes, until the top springs back and a skewer comes out with moist crumbs. An overbaked sponge will not take up the sauce.
Ingredients: 250 g dates · 300 ml boiling water · 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 90 g butter · 150 g soft brown sugar · 2 pcs eggs · 220 g plain flour · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
Make the toffee sauce
Make the sauce towards the end of baking: melt the butter with the sugar and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, until bubbling and darkened, then add the cream and salt and cook 3 minutes more. The sauce should fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon — it thickens further as it cools.
Ingredients: 120 g butter · 200 g dark brown sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · ½ tsp salt
A thick ribbon off the spoon — the sauce is ready.Prick it and pour on half the sauce
Prick the hot sponge all over with a skewer, right to the base and pour half the hot sauce over it. Leave for 6 minutes. A cold sponge takes up the sauce far more slowly; a hot one drinks it in minutes, and that is the whole difference between a good and a very good sticky toffee.
Ingredients: 120 g butter · 200 g dark brown sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · ½ tsp salt
Hot sauce onto a hot sponge, straight into the holes.Serve with the rest of the sauce
Cut into squares, pour over the remaining sauce and serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or thick cream. The contrast of temperatures is half the pleasure.
Ingredients: 120 g butter · 200 g dark brown sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · ½ tsp salt
Before you start
Reheating
Keep the sponge and sauce separately in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat a portion for 40 seconds in the microwave and only then pour — reheated under the sauce it goes claggy and heavy.
Without dates
Dried figs or prunes work similarly, though with a less caramelised note. Raisins less so — their tough skins keep them from collapsing into a purée.
Double the sauce
Almost nobody has regretted making twice as much sauce. In the fridge it sets into a spread; warmed, it returns to a pouring consistency.
