Sticky Toffee Pudding
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Sticky toffee pudding is something I’d heard rumblings about before and sort of put it in the back of my mind to maybe try one day. I had never eaten it and really knew nothing about it, but I figured… Sticky? Good. Toffee? Good. Pudding? Goooood. I most likely couldn’t go wrong with this, but it never quite cracked my short list of recipes to try. Fast forward to this past weekend when my Chief Culinary Consultant was reading his Wall Street Journal and handed me the section that included a big spread on holiday food (this is naturally much more my go-to than markets and futures and things of that nature). There was an article dedicated to different types of puddings (all of which I want to try), and the recipe for the sticky toffee pudding jumped right off the page at me. Um, no one told me there were DATES in sticky toffee pudding!! I would have made this eons sooner! I love me some dates. And not surprisingly, I looooooved the sticky toffee pudding!
I ended up not going with the recipe that was featured in the Wall Street Journal due to the fact that there was mention of soaking the dates in water, but not actually mentioning how much water was needed. I figured this was a relatively important quantity to know, so I went about searching for a very similar recipe. I hit pay dirt on David Lebovitz’ site, as his recipe was almost identical to the one in the paper, but thankfully his instructions included the amount of water needed.
As it turns out, sticky toffee pudding is every sort of awesome you can imagine. It’s baked on top of toffee sauce. The sponge-like cake is moist and packed with dates. And then more toffee sauce is poured over top. You could top it even further with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you dare. I was actually out (I swore there was still some in the fridge from Thanksgiving, bummer!), but I did think that a little squirt of whipped cream would be good. And who am I kidding? When is vanilla ice cream on top of something not a good idea?
So tell me, who knew about sticky toffee pudding and didn’t share the amazingness I had been missing out on? Is this a staple in anyone’s family for Christmas?
One year ago: Chocolate Walnut Fudge
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
A traditional English dessert, popular during the holidays.
Ingredients:
For the Toffee Sauce:
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup demerara sugar (can substitute muscovado sugar or another dark brown sugar)
2½ tablespoons golden syrup (can substitute molasses)
Pinch saltFor the Pudding:
6 ounces pitted dates, chopped
1 cup water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extractDirections:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter an 8½-inch porcelain soufflé dish (or similar-sized baking dish.)
2. Make the toffee sauce by bringing the cream, demerara or turbinado sugar, golden syrup (or molasses) and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often to melt the sugar.
3. Lower heat and simmer, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and coats the spoon. Pour half the sauce into the prepared soufflé dish and place the dish in the freezer, and reserve the other half for serving.
4. To make the pudding, in a medium saucepan, heat the dates and water. Once the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Set aside, but keep it slightly warm.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. (Don’t be alarmed if the mixture looks a bit curdled.)
7. Stir in half of the flour mixture, then the date mixture, then add the remaining flour mixture until just mixed. Don’t overbeat the batter.
8. Remove the soufflé dish from the freezer and scrape the batter into the soufflé dish and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
9. Remove the pudding from the oven, and let cool slightly before serving. Spoon portions of the cake into serving bowls and douse with additional warm toffee sauce. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are good accompaniments, although I enjoy it just as it is.
(Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)
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Oooooo this looks sooooo good!
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In Australia, this is a staple dessert in the winter (i.e. not for the holidays, when dessert = all things summery!). Every restaurant serves some version of it and every home baker has a much-loved recipe. I make it all the time! Love it
Glad you discovered it.
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Looks divine. For a proper English pudding experience you nead it serve it piping hot with lashings of hot custard poured all over it
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Oh, double yum! This looks absolutely amazing!
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I have a delicious recipe for this but can’t wait to try yours – yay for Aussie desserts!!
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I like in the UK and sticky toffee pudding is everywhere here, but nobody told me about it for the first 8 months I lived here. When I finally tried it 3 years ago, it was amazing. Now I eat it any chance I get!
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This is one of my absolute favourite desserts but one that I never make at home, I’m definitely going to have to rectify that. There is nothing better than a slice of warm sticky toffee pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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Haagen Daaz use to make a Sticky Toffee Pudding a couple years ago as a special around Christmas. If you can find it, you have to try it. It is insanely good for all who don’t want to bake.
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This has also been on my, “I’ve been meaning to try” list. Yours looks very tempting.
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I’ve never made sticky toffee pudding before but it looks and sounds right up my alley… gooey deliciousness!
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Oh man, there’s few things I love more than sticky toffee pudding, and this indeed looks beyond sticky and tasty
Gorgeous!
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oh my. Can’t wait to try this!
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What is “golden syrup”? Is that like the Caro brand syrup you use to make pecan pie? I want to make this….now! : )
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Michelle on December 8th, 2011 at 11:29 am
Hi Sharon, Golden syrup refers to something like Lyle’s golden syrup, which is different than corn syrup.
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Mmmm this sounds so good!
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that looks so good. Do you happen to know if there is any difference between sticky toffee pudding and spotted dick? I see Heinz makes both in the UK, and they seem to be very similar.
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Sarah on December 8th, 2011 at 9:08 am
Spotted Dick is a sponge pudding made with currants or raisins. Nice, but nowhere near as good as sticky toffee pudding.
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Oh yum!! This toffee pudding cake looks amazing!! I love that you added dates, so this is healthy right?
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I don’t know if this was intentional, but you totally pseudo-quoted Friends
The Thanksgiving episode where Rachel makes the triffle-shepherds pie concoction. Joey: What’s not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Gooooood. Made my day (and probably freaked everyone out that I know Friends that well…..hehe)
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Michelle on December 8th, 2011 at 11:30 am
Oh I didn’t think of that when I was writing it, but now I totally remember that episode! It must have been in the back of my brain somewhere
I was a big Friends watcher!
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This is on my list to make as well. It just looks so good.
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Oh goodness – that looks incredible! Yum
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Sticky toffee pudding appears on most menus here in the UK. You should try this recipe – insanely easy and completely gorgeous. I’ll be taking it to dinner at my parents this Christmas like I do every year
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/easy-sticky-toffee-pudding-180
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That looks sooo good! Can’t wait to try it.
The number one thing on my wish list is an Ipad!
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I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one that dives into the Wall Street Journal for the food section on the weekend!
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Let me guess….if you look up the word sinful in the dictionary you get a picture of this lovely thing….oh, my.
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Holy cow! That looks absolutely amazing!!!! DELISH!
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I have a pudding mold. I wonder if it will work in that? I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…and I know I have whipped cream in my fridge.
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Oooh, I gotta try this! I’m on a date kick lately…I’ve been popping them like candy. Any idea where I can find these fancy brown sugars? Or do you think it would be just as good with dark brown sugar from the supermarket?
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Michelle on December 8th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Hi Beth, I was actually surprised – I found demerara sugar right in the baking aisle at the grocery store. If you can’t find it I think dark brown sugar would be a perfect substitute.
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This looks incredible and I needed a recipe idea for a party on Saturday! Thanks!
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One of my very favorite things to eat – it is great with Pralines & Cream ice cream from B&R but not for the faint hearted when it comes to calories! Love your blog!!
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I made sticky toffee pudding once and really loved it, but it wasn’t baked with the sauce like this one. I’ll bet it’s waaay better your way. Now I have to do it again
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I am seriously drooling right now. So good!!!
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That looks IN.CRED.I.BLE!!!
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I am so going to try this recipe. One of our favorite cookies in our house is date pinwheel cookies, because we do love our dates too.
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This looks so decadent. What a fun recipe – thank you!
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Now I know what I’m making for boxing day!
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For awhile Haagen Daaz sold a “sticky toffee pudding” ice cream and it was my husband’s favorite! Unfotunately, its no longer sold….or at least we can’t find it anywhere.
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I just discovered your blog on the weekend. Love it! I think I’m going to have to try this pudding also!
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Oh, wow, this is another amazing dish!
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Whole Foods used to sell foil pans of Sticky Toffee Pudding in their bakery section. They came with a solid toffee coating on top , and a foil lined cardboard cover. It was designed for you to take home and heat it up in the oven. The toffee coating on top would melt and liquify and ooze down into the cake (and there was more toffee underneath too). It was awesome!!! They stopped selling it.
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Such a lovely and delicious toffee pudding, a nice dessert for this coming holiday season. Thanks for sharing.
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I discovered sticky toffee pudding (but called sticky date pudding) in Australia on my honeymoon 10 years ago. It was so amazingly delicious! Since then, my husband and I swoon just thinking about it. I have a few recipes researched to try, but how fun to find that you’ve tested one out for me! I can’t wait to try it! I can already taste its hot caramel toffee goodness….and good vanilla ice cream just makes it that much more decadent!
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When I was recently in London, the sticky toffee pudding was served with clotted cream. Yum!
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Do you really need to use a souffle dish or can another type of dish be substituted into the recipe? Thanks!
(By the way, I love your recipes. You’ve never led me wrong!)
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Michelle on December 9th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Hi Danielle, You just need a smallish casserole dish. I used a 2-quart Corningware casserole dish pictured above.
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I’ve never had this, but I think I’ve been missing out.
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We have Date Pudding every holiday, is that similar to sticky toffee pudding?
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Michelle on December 9th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Good question Beth, I’ve never had Date Pudding, so I couldn’t say. Hopefully another reader will be able to offer some insight!
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Sticky Toffee is one of my favorites! I’d never had it before moving to Cayman. Love your recipe, will have to try it
Buzzed
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I’ve made this before, SO good!
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Funny – I’m getting ready to make Sticky Toffee Pudding next week! I first saw it on Cooking Channel a couple months ago and had to make it. It seemed then there wasn’t a big selection of recipes and no one had heard of it before but now it is everywhere! I’m planning on using the King Arthur Flour recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
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The topping alone makes me want to try this!
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That looks soooooooo good.
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Being in England I have become very accustomed to this dessert on the menus… I believe North America has been missing out! Great post.
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
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This looks incredible! I need a dessert for a get together on Friday night, and I think I just might give this a try. I am a big fan of all things toffee.
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Michelle…. if you are ever in Las Vegas at the New York New York hotel there is a restaurant called Gallagher’s (it’s a steak house) you MUST go there for their sticky toffee pudding. My fiance and I went there for dinner, and our waitress bought us dessert (which is a show of just how awesome their customer service is)….she recommended the pudding, and since she was buyin’ we accepted. Holy Schmoly….we would visit Vegas again JUST TO EAT THAT AGAIN!! LOL! I am going to try making this tomorrow, hopefully it’s just as good!!! My mouth is already watering!
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I made this for my family on Christmas Eve and it was gone before the end of the day! This was a huge surprise, as I made it to get rid of dates we bought in bulk and couldn’t seem to finish. My only suggestion is that I needed to cook the carmel longer on the stovetop to create a mixture that coated the back of the spoon. I’m making it again, and this time it will hopefully last long enough so I can try it with whipped cream or ice cream. Happy Holidays!
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Amazing! Made this for a dinner party of 5 this evening and it is gone!
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My cooking group made this today and it was delicious. Amazing recipe and quite easy to put together.
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All I can say is WOW! This was perfect in every way. The bread/cake was soft and moist in and of itself, but baked and topped with toffee sauce, it was beyond words. This is the ideal holiday dish, thank you so much!
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The Joy of Cooking Butterscotch Sauce is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever made. The Pudding needs the sauce, and is even better with cream poured over it. mmm
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Ok, so how un-cool is it to post a comment more than a year after your original post?! Oh well, I just made this for the first time for company last weekend and it was a big hit. It is a very forgiving recipe: I wrecked the butter/sugar mixture because it never got fluffy, but I separated the eggs and whipped the egg whites to soft peaks. I incorporated the stiff egg whites with the flour and date mixture and it was perfect. My “pudding” rose to nearly the next rack level in the oven! I also subbed maple syrup and sugar cane syrup for the molasses, plus I used light brown sugar. I didn’t have the exact ingredients called for in the recipe, but it sure didn’t hurt things! I was eating the leftover toffee sauce straight from the bowl… Thanks for your awesome recipes and pics!
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After looking online at so many recipes, I decided to try yours as it had the sauce at the bottom of the dish as well. This was the first time I was making sticky toffee pudding and I have to tell you, this came out amazing! Also, this was a very forgiving recipe, my electricity went about 3 times during the cooking but it still Rose perfectly and beautifully. The sauce was amazing too. Thanks. I love your blog and ever recipe sounds amazing, will try whatever I can with ingredients available to me. Thanks
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