Sticky Toffee Pudding
Dense, moist date cake drenched in warm toffee sauce. This British classic is the ultimate cold-weather dessert.
Desserts · Prep 20 min · Cook 35 min · Serves 8 · Medium · By Tina · Published
Ingredients
- 200 g dates, pitted, finely chopped
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 50 g butter, softened, for cake
- 150 g brown sugar, for cake
- 2 eggs
- 175 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g butter, for toffee sauce
- 150 g brown sugar, for toffee sauce
- 200 ml heavy cream, for toffee sauce
If you have never had sticky toffee pudding, you are about to have a religious experience. It is a soft, intensely moist cake made with dates, soaked in a warm toffee sauce that pools around the edges and soaks into every pore of the sponge.
The dates are the secret weapon — they dissolve into the batter and give the cake this incredibly moist, almost caramel-like quality. You would never know they were there, but without them the cake would just be a regular sponge. With them, it is transcendent.
The toffee sauce is simply butter, cream, and brown sugar cooked together until it is thick and glossy. Make extra. You will want to pour it on everything.
Pro Tips
- Chop the dates finely and soak them in hot water with bicarbonate of soda. The bicarb softens them and they almost dissolve into the batter.
- Do not overbake. The cake should be just set — a toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs.
- Make the sauce while the cake bakes. Pour it over the hot cake immediately.
- This reheats beautifully. Microwave individual portions with extra sauce.
Serving
Serve warm in shallow bowls, drowned in toffee sauce, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a pour of cold cream. The temperature contrast is everything.
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