This Sticky Toffee Pudding is an absolute classic dessert. It has a deliciously rich sponge and a homemade sticky toffee sauce.
I don’t know about you, but at this time of year when the nights are darker, and the weather is so much colder I crave a classic dessert like this Sticky Toffee Pudding.
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Classic Dessert
Sticky Toffee Pudding is an absolute classic dessert. It is available in pretty much every pub or restaurant in the UK and it is utterly delicious.
This is such a showstopper dessert and perfect if you are having a get-together with friends or family. The beauty of this recipe is that you can adapt it to your own personal preference, add some more sauce, or less sauce, with or without dates
Sticky Toffee Pudding
So, I made this recipe with dates, it is completely optional you can leave them out if you prefer. To make this recipe with dates, the dates need to be soaked first.
Personally, I prefer to cut the dates quite chunky, but you can cut them as big or as small as you want.
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Croissant Bread and Butter Pudding
For this Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe, you can either use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, both will work perfectly. I used dark brown sugar because I find it gives the pudding a stronger toffee flavour compared with light brown sugar.
You also need to use the black treacle in this recipe. The treacle helps give the sticky toffee pudding its richness.
Dates or No Dates?
If you want to include the dates but don’t want big chunks of dates in your pudding you can blitz them in a food processor before adding them to your mixture. This way you will get the flavour of the dates but without the chunks in the pudding.
If you don’t want to use the dates at all you can leave them out, but you will need to increase the amount of milk. Find the amounts in the alternatives section below.
Baking
The pudding needs to be baked in the oven for 35-40 minutes. I use a fan oven when baking, and of course, everyone’s oven is different. You may find that it needs slightly longer or less time depending on your oven. I would recommend keeping an eye on your pudding after around 30 minutes. From there you can gauge how much longer it needs to bake.
There are a few different ways to tell if it is baked. You can use a cake tester to test the thickest part of the cake, just like you would if you were baking a cake or cupcakes. If the tester comes out clean then the pudding is ready, if it comes out and there is still batter on it then pop the pudding back into the oven for 3-4 minutes and repeat.
You can gently press down on the top of the pudding and if it springs back to its original shape when you remove your finger then it is ready. If you end up with a finger-shaped dent in the top of your cake then pop it back into the oven for 3-4 minutes and repeat.
Sticky Toffee Sauce
The sauce can be made while the sticky toffee pudding is baking. For the Sticky Toffee Sauce just like with the pudding you can use either light or dark brown sugar. Again, I used dark brown sugar as I think it gives it a richer toffee flavour.
The sauce will set slightly so you are best to add it to your pudding as soon as it is baked. You can add as much or as little as you want.
The sauce recipe does make a lot of sauce so if you want extra then it is perfect. If you don’t want to use it all you can store it in the fridge and use it for other things, like sauce on top of ice cream.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this Sticky Toffee Pudding with anything you fancy it is delicious with custard or a homemade ice cream. You could also serve it with cream or have it without any accompaniment.
Hot or Cold?
Do you serve your Sticky Toffee Pudding hot or cold? This recipe will work either way. If you are having it straight out of the oven just remember it will be very very hot. So you are best to leave it for 5-10 minutes before serving it.
If you aren’t having it straight away you can leave it to cool and re-heat it before serving either in the microwave or pop it back into the oven for a few minutes.
You could also leave it to cool down and have it cold.
Alternatives
If you don’t want to include the dates, you will need to double the amount of milk and add in 10g more Black Treacle.
Equipment
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Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
For the Sticky Toffee Pudding
- 150 g Dates (stones removed)
- 150 ml Boiling Water
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 200 g Dark Brown Sugar
- 275 g Self-Raising Flour
- 100 g Black Treacle
- 3 Large Eggs
- 150 ml Whole Milk
For the Sticky Toffee Sauce
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 100 g Dark Brown Sugar
- 40 g Black Treacle
- 150 ml Double Cream
Instructions
To Make the Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Remove the stones from your dates and chop as thickly or thinly as you prefer.
- Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over the chopped dates and leave for 25-30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line your cake tin with baking parchment. This recipe fits perfectly into a 30x20cm baking dish.Leave to one side.
- Add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda to the date mixture and stir until combined.
- In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, eggs, treacle, milk and date mixture and beat until combined.
- Pour the mixture into your cake tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
To Make the Sauce
- Add all the ingredients for the sauce to a large saucepan and heat on a low heat. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted.
- Once the butter has melted turn the heat up to a medium heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Stir the mixture continuously for 2-3 minutes until it has thickened slightly.
- Once the pudding has baked pour the sauce over the top. You can add as much or as little as you want.
Notes
- This Sticky Toffee Pudding will last up to 3 days in the fridge.
- If you don’t use all the sauce pop it into an airtight container and store in the fridge. It will last up to 3 days in the fridge.
- You can make this pudding in advance but it can only be reheated once, either in the microwave or in the oven.
