Sticky Toffee Pudding
A soft, dark date cake soaked with warm toffee sauce while it's still hot from the oven, then served with more sauce and cold cream.
Pour a third of the sauce over the cake the minute it comes out, after poking it all over with a skewer. Ten minutes later it has soaked all the way down, and that's what makes it pudding and not cake with sauce on top.
Ingredients
- Cake
- 8 oz Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- Toffee sauce
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- To serve
- ½ cup heavy cream, cold, or vanilla ice cream
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Butter an 8-inch square metal pan.
- Put the dates and baking soda in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them. It will foam. Let it sit 15 minutes, then mash with a fork into a rough paste.
- Beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold it into the butter mixture, then fold in the dates and all their liquid. The batter will be loose. That's right.
- Scrape it into the pan and bake until the top springs back and a skewer comes out with only a few moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes.
- While it bakes, make the sauce. Bring the sugar, butter, cream and salt to a boil in a saucepan over medium, stirring. Simmer until it thickens and coats a spoon, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla.
- Poke the hot cake all over with a skewer, right to the bottom. Pour a third of the sauce over it and let it soak 10 minutes.
- Cut into 9 squares. Serve warm with the rest of the sauce, reheated, and a pour of cold cream.