Traditional Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe
This traditional English sticky toffee pudding has the texture of a sponge-like cake that is super moist and full of sweet dates. The cake batter is baked on top of toffee sauce, then even more toffee sauce is poured on top (that toffee drizzle is a holiday gift of its own!). Serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for a truly unforgettable dessert!
I was first introduced to this English (and Canadian) Christmas dessert about a decade ago when I stumbled upon a newspaper spread about holiday food and 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.
As soon as I saw it included dates, I dashed off to the kitchen to give it a try (I LOVE dates!). And not surprisingly, I looooooved the sticky toffee pudding!
Pudding pans: How to choose and how to prepare
Some puddings are prepared in Bundt cake pans, while others are in a standard baking dish. In this one, I recommend an 8-½ inch porcelain soufflé dish (this has about a 2-quart capacity); its tall sides keep the pudding crunchy and rich. A similar-sized baking dish would also work, but a porcelain option is the best in terms of the way it conducts heat and produces a crusty exterior and super moist interior.
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Grease the pan with a light layer of butter or non-stick cooking spray. Whatever you grease it with, be sure that you have kept the coating very light, so that the butter or oil does not soak into the pudding. Use a paper towel to blot up any excess.
How to make sticky toffee pudding step by step
Though traditional “puddings” are boiled or steamed, sticky toffee pudding has evolved and is now traditionally baked. I am a huge fan of this because the crisp edges and structure this cake gets from the oven are absolutely heavenly. I fell in love with how straightforward this recipe is, and how utterly delicious it is!
- Preheat oven and grease your baking dish.
- Bring the toffee sauce together by adding the butter, brown sugar, and molasses to a saucepan. Boil on medium and stir until sugar is melted. Lower to simmer until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon.
- Pour half of the toffee mixture into the greased base of the baking dish. Place the dish in the freezer, and set the other half aside.
- Begin making the pudding by heating the dates and water in a medium saucepan. Once water is boiling, remove it from the heat and stir in the baking soda. You want to set this aside but keep it on very low heat.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
- In a standing mixer bowl, or in a large bowl (and using a hand mixer), you will beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Then, you will beat in the eggs and vanilla. NOTE: Here, you may see things looking a bit clumpy – that’s normal!
- Add half of the flour mixture into the standing mixer bowl, followed by the date mixture. Next, add the other half of the flour mixture and mix. (You want to avoid overmixing here, so make sure you watch closely and turn the mixer off as soon as you see the ingredients totally blended.)
- Remove the soufflé dish from the freezer and pour the pudding mixture in.
- Bake the sticky toffee pudding for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick from the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
- Let the pudding cool fully before serving with the other half of the toffee sauce.
Variations and serving ideas
There are so many kinds of traditional puddings, you may find yourself inspired once you start making them! A sticky toffee pudding like this is a classic, but you can spice it up a bit pretty easily:
- A pinch of clove or nutmeg can give it a gingerbread feel.
- We call dates “nature’s candy” for a reason! They are quite sweet, so for those looking to cut that down, dried apricots are a great swap.
- Dark cocoa powder could also be added for some bitter dark notes.
- Whipped cream on its own is fabulous, but you can also fold the second half of the toffee mixture into whipped cream. Talk about luxurious!
- You can also serve this topped with or alongside vanilla ice cream.
- Looking for smaller portions? Use smaller ramekins to make single-serving puddings. Your cook time will be closer to 30-40 minutes!
Making ahead and storage tips
- Make-Ahead: Do not add half of the toffee to the pan, and instead bake the cake on its own. While it is still hot, poke holes in the cake and drizzle half of the toffee over. When it is cooled, cover the pudding with plastic wrap. Store the rest of the toffee in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
- Storing: The pudding can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Separate the pudding into individual servings and wrap each serving tightly with plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe resealable bag for up to 3 months.
- To Reheat the Pudding: You can warm the sticky toffee pudding in the microwave, the oven, a toaster oven, or even the grill (wrapped in foil).
- To Reheat the Toffee Sauce: Warm over low heat on the stove or in the microwave in 30-second bursts on 50% power. Be sure to stir frequently to keep the sauce from evaporating or burning.
On a toffee or pudding kick? Me too! Check these out:
- Chocolate Chip Toffee Blondies
- Saltine Toffee Candy with Pecans
- Bourbon Bread Pudding Recipe
- Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding Breakfast Casserole
I would absolutely love it if you tried this sticky toffee pudding for dessert (for the holidays or ANY day!); if you do, please stop back and leave a rating and let me know how you liked it! ENJOY! 😍
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
For the Toffee Sauce:
- 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
- ½ cup (99 g) dark brown sugar
- 2½ tablespoons golden syrup, or molasses
- Pinch salt
For the Pudding:
- 6 ounces (170 g) pitted dates, chopped
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ cups (150 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (149 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter an 8½-inch porcelain soufflé dish (or similar-sized baking dish).
- Make the toffee sauce by bringing the cream, dark brown sugar, golden syrup (or molasses) and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often to melt the sugar.
- 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.
- 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.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Photography by Lauren Grant.
Delicious! Freezes very well!! Can be portioned, frozen and reheated in 2 bursts of 20s in the microwave for an urgent craving!
I make this often, and it tastes just like the kind I get at my local English restaurant.
I’ve made a few adjustments:
Toffee: I cut the toffee recipe in half and cook it for about 15 minutes to get the right color and thickness. Once it’s done, I add about half a tablespoon of butter to the sauce. I also skip adding toffee to the bottom of the pan and freezing it, as I found it wasn’t worth the extra step.
Pudding: I keep the ingredients the same but bake it at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Baking it for 50 minutes results in hammered, overcooked pudding. It’s possible that the longer baking time is necessary if you choose to do the toffee-in-the-pan-and-freeze step, but I don’t remember now.
I serve it with vanilla ice cream.
Storage: I store the pudding and toffee separately in the fridge. I’ve also successfully frozen them, still separated, in individual servings. The pudding thaws perfectly in the microwave after about 30 seconds. Then, I add the toffee and heat for another 10 seconds. The toffee doesn’t fully harden in the freezer; it becomes more like taffy, but it returns to the right consistency when heated.
This was pretty good! Easy to make. I followed the instructions exactly and the pudding is decent. However, it’s SUPER dry. It needs about 20 minutes less in the oven, and honestly it needed more dates. I made a simple syrup in the pan I boiled the dates in, and added some golden syrup, and that improved it. But it should never have been that dry.
The toffee sauce was very good though.
amazing recipe! so easy and straightforward with such great results.
i made 1 recipe into 24 mini bundt cakes for individual servings and it turned out beautifully! Bake time was about 24 minutes.
I’m British but live in the states so figured it was time make this for my American husband and daughter. They are now obsessed!
I used a food processor to chop the dates super fine (gordan ramsey purées then so figured that was close enough) so I didn’t get chunks in the sponge as other commenters mentioned.
I baked in an 8×8 square metal pain and I’m glad I checked it often because it was perfectly cooked at 33 mins!
Oh also, my toffee sauce took a at longer than 5 mins.. probably closer to 20! I used the golden syrup instead of molasses
awful very pale no flavour
Would love to make this tomorrow! It’s for a large group. What size pan and cooking time would you recommend for a doubled recipe?
I discovered sticky toffee pudding on a recent trip to Grand Cayman Island. I thought it was probably the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten in my life and simply had to make it. I looked online for a recipe and found this one. The reviews are spot on – this was wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Hello! I just made this and it was wonderful! I made an eggless version with 2 tablespoons of water, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of oil for each egg. <3
Really enjoyed this! Found it super sweet (I mean duh, it’s sticky toffee pudding) so when I do it again, I think I’ll halve the toffee and only reserve a couple tbsp for drizzle. The pudding is absolutely amazing!
I’m confused – the initial story mentioned butter for the sauce but the ingredients listed heavy cream?? and no butter.
So good
Amazing recipe!! The toffee sauce took closer to 15 minutes to get thick and amber-colored for me, rather than 5, but it was perfection. One of the best desserts I’ve had. I used an 8-inch square baking dish and it turned out great.
It did not as anywhere in the recipe to chop or mash the dates. I read other recipes and they said to do this. Mine had big clumps of dates that were not mixed into the cake. Wish I had cut up and mashed the dates. 😩
That’s crazy because the ingredients list said “Dates, chopped.” seems like a reading issue, not a recipe issue.
How much water in the date mixture? I’m supposed to make this today for my daughter in laws birthday. Thanks in advance!
LOVE this cake! Made some modifications to make it gluten & dairy free and you couldn’t tell at all. It was so fluffy and reheated really well! I can’t wait to make this again!
Your post includes butter but no butter in recipe for toffee?
It’s in Step 6. You beat it together with the sugar when making the pudding/sponge.
This recipe is a keeper. I think it would be helpful to be more clear on the toffee times because it takes about 40 minutes to get it thick enough, but the pudding was EXACTLY what I was hoping for! Tender and moist, gooey, delicious. Thank you!
Heather did you use butter in toffee sauce? It’s been about 20 min and it’s still runny
This is to die for! I made it twice last year around the holidays and will be again tomorrow for an early Christmas gathering. Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
I had experienced Sticky Toffee Pudding all over Scotland this summer and it is now my best, most favorite dessert. I made your recipe and took it to a Christmas luncheon today with some of my dearest friends and they raved about it. I was so pleased that your recipe was not difficult and matched what I loved about it in Scotland. Thank you!
Over a year ago I had Sticky Toffee Pudding when visiting Ireland and loved it. I finally decided to try making it myself which I did today. Your recipe is easy to follow and everyone enjoyed it very much. I will definitely will make this again. Thank you!
Hello,
In your Sticky Toffee Pudding cake recipe when I choose to see the recipe in metric did the computer just convert it into grams or did you actually weigh the ingredients in grams to experiment with the recipe in grams? If the computer just converted it please let me know because I know the recipe will not be accurate.
Thank you
Michelle, a little background before the review. My son was working on a rig in the North Sea and had Sticky Toffee Pudding made by a woman from Scotland who was the cook. He devoured it! I came across your recipe and asked if he would like it for his birthday. Easy and delicious, and my son loved it – high praise indeed!
Can I make this in a Bundt pan? Thanks!
This is a great recipe! It was simple to make (or make ahead as I did) and it was absolutely divine! I doubled the recipe as I was feeding a large crowd and it got rave reviews from everyone! The sponge was light and fluffy and the dates added a wonderfully deep toffee flavour and melted right into the batter. The sauce was incredible (obviously with the amount of cream in it, how could it not? But well worth the calories!) and came together easily and beautifully. I highly reccomend this recipe and I will certainly be saving it to my recipe book to make again.
I am always late to the party posting two years in, but from now on I will always take this to party. My only complaint is I live alone and now have to finish this whole pan!!!
Can I make this in individual ramekins? If do, what size, how many, how long? If I cake in 9×13 (doubled recipe), will it be as good?
thank you so much 🎄
I did a test run before the holidays and my sister-in-law said “this is the best thing I have EVER eaten!” I’ll (obviously) be making this one again, and again! I add just a splash of Bourbon to my whipped cream – DELICIOUS!
I don’t have dates is there something I could use to replace like raisins
OMG! My family loved It so did I. This is going to be good for Christmas Dessert. It’s a winner!