Sticky Toffee Pudding
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats and NYT Cooking.
A soft, dark date sponge baked in a square tin, soaked with hot toffee sauce made from butter, dark brown sugar and cream, and served warm.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Soak the dates. Put the chopped dates in the heatproof bowl, pour over the boiling water and stir in the bicarbonate. Leave for 15 min, then blend to a rough purée; the bicarbonate softens the skins and darkens the sponge.
- 2
Make the batter. Heat the oven to 175 °C (155 °C fan) and butter and line the tin. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat the 60 g butter with the 150 g sugar for 2-3 min until fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Fold in the flour and date purée just until no streaks remain, so the sponge stays tender.
- 3
Bake. Scrape the batter into the tin and bake for 30-35 min, until risen and springy and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
- 4
Make the toffee sauce. While it bakes, melt the 115 g butter with the 170 g sugar in the saucepan. Whisk in the cream and salt and simmer for 3-4 min until glossy and slightly thickened.
- 5
Soak and serve. Poke the hot sponge all over with the skewer, pour over a third of the sauce and leave for 10 min to soak in. Cut into 9 squares and serve warm with the rest of the hot sauce.
Storage
Keep the pudding and sauce covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat squares with some sauce in the microwave or a low oven until piping hot. The sponge freezes for up to 2 months.
Equipment
- 20 cm square cake tin
- baking paper
- heatproof bowl
- food processor or stick blender
- mixing bowl
- electric whisk
- medium saucepan
- whisk
- wooden skewer
- wire rack
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 527 kcal |
| Protein | 4.8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 69.5 g |
| of which sugars | 52.1 g |
| of which free sugars | 34.6 g |
| Fat | 27.1 g |
| of which saturates | 16.8 g |
| Fibre | 2.2 g |
| Salt | 0.83 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
0.9 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
