Sticky Toffee Pudding
Dark, date-sweet sponge in a pool of toffee
Sticky toffee pudding is the pudding that wins over even the most committed dessert-sceptic, and its secret is dates: soaked and blended into the batter, they melt away to leave a deep, fudgy sponge with no fruity flavour, only richness. Crowned with a buttery dark-muscovado toffee sauce that seeps right into the crumb, it is warming, indulgent and gloriously easy to make. A pinch of sea salt in the sauce keeps all that sweetness in perfect balance.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
- 200g pitted dates, chopped
- 250ml boiling water
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 75g unsalted butter, softened
- 150g dark muscovado sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 175g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- For the toffee sauce: 100g unsalted butter
- 150g dark muscovado sugar
- 200ml double cream
- Pinch of sea salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and butter a 20cm square baking tin.
- Put the chopped dates in a bowl, pour over the boiling water and stir in the bicarbonate of soda, then leave to soften for 10 minutes.
- Beat the softened butter and muscovado sugar until light, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Fold in the flour and vanilla, then stir through the dates and their soaking liquid to make a loose batter.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until risen and springy to the touch.
- For the sauce, melt the butter and sugar together in a pan over a low heat.
- Pour in the cream, add the salt, and simmer gently for 3-4 minutes until smooth and glossy.
- Prick the warm sponge all over and pour a third of the sauce over it, letting it soak in for 5 minutes.
- Cut into squares and serve warm with the remaining toffee sauce and cream or vanilla ice cream.
3 The Story
Sticky toffee pudding has become a defining symbol of British comfort cooking, yet by the standards of the country’s puddings it is a relative newcomer. It rose to fame in the second half of the twentieth century and is most strongly associated with the Lake District, where the hotelier Francis Coulson served a celebrated version at Sharrow Bay on Ullswater that did much to spread its reputation. The precise origins are debated and several cooks have laid claim to early recipes, but it was through Lake District hotels and restaurants that the dish travelled out to the wider nation and eventually around the world.
The genius of the recipe is the humble date. Soaking dried dates in boiling water with a little bicarbonate of soda breaks them down into a soft pulp that all but dissolves into the batter. They contribute almost no recognisable fruitiness; instead they bring moisture, a natural caramel-like sweetness and that characteristic dense, sticky crumb that no amount of plain sugar could replicate. The bicarbonate of soda both softens the dates and gives the sponge its deep colour and tender texture.
Dark muscovado sugar is the other key player, used in both the sponge and the sauce. Unlike refined white sugar, it retains a generous proportion of molasses, lending its treacly, almost smoky depth and a faint bitterness that stops the pudding from cloying. This is what gives a good sticky toffee pudding its grown-up character rather than mere sweetness.
The toffee sauce is wonderfully simple, made by melting butter and sugar together before enriching it with cream until smooth and pourable. Adding a pinch of sea salt is the small, modern refinement that lifts the whole thing, sharpening the toffee and balancing its richness. Pouring some of the warm sauce over the sponge while it is still hot, and pricking the surface first, lets it soak down into the crumb so that every forkful is saturated. The rest is served alongside in a jug, ready to be poured liberally with cream or ice cream.
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