Sticky toffee pudding is something I’ve become really fond of recently. It’s a very classic British dessert, that can be steamed or baked. This pudding is made with a basic cake batter and dates. Dates are not something you would normally associate with decadent desserts, but trust me it works.It’s traditionally served warm with hot toffee sauce, but there are lots of other ways to serve this pudding. It’s great with ice-cream, chocolate sauce and roasted nuts or I love it as a sundae with fresh banana, cream, ice-cream and toffee sauce. It’s surprisingly easy to make and the cake itself keeps well for a few days. The OH tasted this pudding four days after I made, and it still tasted great reheated. This pudding is pure comfort food, and combination of banana, toffee and cream make it taste like a cakey banoffee.
Ingredients
Pudding
- 7g butter, for greasing ramekins
- 150g chopped dates
- 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 250 ml of hot water
- 60g of butter
- 60g of light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 150g of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
Toffee sauce
- 75g of light brown sugar
- 150ml of heavy cream
- 30g of butter
- Pinch of salt
Extras
- Vanilla Ice-cream
- Whipped cream
- Bananas, peeled and sliced
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 C. Butter an 8 inch square tin.
- Put the chopped dates, hot water and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and leave to soften.
- Meanwhile cream the butter together in a food processor until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating well to combine.
- Next, add the flour and baking powder and mix together before adding the date mixture (including the water). Beat well together.
- Pour the cake batter into the tin and cook for 40- 45 minutes. The pudding should be springy to touch when cooked. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, to make the toffee sauce, put the brown sugar, half the cream, all the butter and the salt into a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Place over a medium heat, stirring all the time.
- Cook until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until you have a glossy sauce. Add the rest of the cream and cook until bubbling and golden brown. Reserve the sauce for serving.
- Once the pudding has cooled, put portions of the cake in serving dishes / sundae glasses, along with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
- Warm the toffee sauce over a medium heat.
- Serve the puddings with hot toffee sauce, whipped cream and sliced bananas on top.
