Sticky Toffee Pudding – A brown sugar cake made with dates is soaked in a homemade toffee sauce to make this traditional British dessert

As you can imagine, this pandemic had led me to find so many new shows to binge on TV. My latest obsession is the Great British Baking Show. Have you seen it? So many people had told me about it but I’d only just gotten into it. I’m almost happy I waited so long to watch it because now I have so many seasons of the show that I can binge for months!

In this show, they feature contestants making various breads, pastries, and desserts. In one episode, they featured puddings. This episode taught me something that I didn’t know before – in Britain, puddings are a completely different dessert than they are in the US. They can be sweet or savory and can be a variety of textures, not simply a custard, like it is here in the US.

One of the puddings that really grabbed my attention was Sticky Toffee Pudding. I mean, if those three words don’t grab your tastebuds immediately, I don’t know what will. And after seeing the finished dessert, I knew I just had to make it for myself.

After trying the pudding, there’s only one word I can use to describe it – velvet. Each bite is so velvety smooth and luscious. The cake itself is so moist and every bite is loaded with toffee sauce. I am so mad that it took me this long to try this dessert.

Now that I’ve tried this recipe, I must share it with you all so you can also experience the incredible flavors and textures. Here is my version of Sticky Toffee Pudding.

What is sticky toffee pudding?

Sticky toffee pudding is a dessert made by soaking a cake made with dates and brown sugar in a rich, sticky toffee sauce. It’s usually made in individual portions but I’ve also seen it made in a large sheet cake. In the US, I imagine it being very similar to a poke cake when served as a large cake.

How is sticky toffee pudding made?

To make sticky toffee pudding, there are three main steps:

1. Make toffee sauce
2. Make and bake cakes
3. Assemble puddings and bake again

Toffee Sauce

This toffee sauce is incredibly easy to make. No candy thermometers or fancy tools needed! All you do is add cream, sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a sauce pan and cook until the sauce turns golden brown. The key is cooking on a low heat and stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn.

Date Cakes

The sweetness in these cakes is driven by brown sugar and minced dates. The dates were a new ingredient for me but I found that they added a great color and texture to the cake and helped tame the sweetness. After all, the cakes will be loaded with toffee sauce so we don’t want the cake to be too sweet.

The dates are first rehydrated by simmering in a small pot with water. The dates absorb the water and plump up. This makes them easier to mince in a food processor. Once they’re minced up, they get added to the cake batter right before adding in the dry ingredients.

Assembling the puddings

Once the cake batter is ready, it’s spooned into small ramekins and baked until completely cooked. Then, they’re removed from the ramekins and sliced in half. Toffee sauce is spooned into each ramekin and the cake halves are added back to the ramekins with layers of toffee sauce between each layer. The cakes are baked again in the oven so that they can absorb all the toffee sauce.

Tips & Tricks

1. It’s very important that you keep the toffee sauce cooking at a moderately low heat and stir it frequently. Otherwise, it could burn on the bottom.
2. Make sure the dates are minced as fine as possible. This ensures they get evenly distributed in the cake and you don’t get chunks of dates in each bite.
3. The cakes MUST be cooked thoroughly or else they will be difficult to remove from the ramekins. Also, make sure to grease the ramekins properly so the cakes will come out easily.

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