Sticky Toffee Pudding

Don’t worry if you’re confused.

The name says it’s a pudding, but the picture looks an awful lot like a cake, doesn’t it?

Here’s the dealio:
1. A pudding is basically a goopy, sticky cake. (I’m so sold already. Like in this particular pudding- the toffee sauce is poured into holes poked into the cake while it’s still warm, causing a puddling and then a pooling and then a saturation of all things toffee. You’re sold now too, I know. You have my permission to stop reading this introduction and start baking. Go!)
2. It depends on what side of the pond you’re on. In the U.K., puddings are everywhere. I think people have puddings for breakfast over there, which is a highly noble activity. Why save pudding for dessert? Sounds like a waste of life to wait for dessert.
3. If you really wanted pudding in the North American sense, make the Rich Chocolate Pudding or the Creamy Rice Pudding, but promise me this: don’t not make this Sticky Toffee Pudding.
PUDDING (okay, CAKE):

10 oz (about 1 1/2 cups) pitted dates, chopped coarsely (preferably Medjool)

1 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

5 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

TOFFEE SAUCE:

1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
1. Preheat oven to 350°, and grease a 9″ round baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper or wax paper and grease again.
2. In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over dates and stir in baking soda. Allow to sit until soft (about 5 minutes).
3. In another medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy (about 3 – 4 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time, until smooth. Stir flour mixture on low speed until just combined, then stir in date mixture and vanilla until just blended.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, until cake tester comes out barely clean of crumbs.
6. TOFFEE SAUCE: in a medium saucepan, bring cream and brown sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally until the mixture boils. Add butter and boil for 3 minutes; remove from heat.
7. Remove pudding from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a plate and poke holes into cake using a fork (the more holes, the better!). Spoon about 8 tablespoons of sauce over the cake (which will then turn into a pudding by definition, of course), saving the rest of the sauce to spoon over each slice as you serve.
Tips:
- Medjool dates are very special… but if you can’t find them, go for the regular ones. Still sweet and yummy. (If you really like dates, be sure to make the Date Squares, okay?)
- Salt note: if you use salted butter, decrease the amount of salt in the cake to a pinch.
- Whipped cream would make a lovely garnish. I’m just saying.
- You could always make twice the amount of toffee sauce and freeze it… for when you feel like dipping your Classic Shortbread Cookies into something, or when you feel like drinking it on it’s own because you have a problem. :)
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March 2nd, 2013 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Cakes, Caramel, Goopy