Sticky Toffee Pudding

My final Pudding Month recipe had to be sticky toffee pudding.

When I was in the Lake District last year I made it my mission to eat as much sticky toffee pudding as possible. For research purposes, of course.



Though sticky toffee feels like one of those dishes that has been around forever, it was actually created in the early 1970s in the Lake District. Francis Coulson opened the Sharrow Bay Hotel on Ullswater in 1948 and is generally credited with the invention (though, as always, theories abound).

Four years ago I made some Sticky Toffee Volcanoes, little individual portions that had a gingery butterscotch sauce. They were good at the time but I knew I could improve on them now. I also wanted to make one big pudding - a slab that you can cut the portion of your choice from (and can have seconds from, if desired...).



I found a really interesting method on Not Without Salt for a salted caramel date loaf that involves making a deep bronze caramel, stirring in butter, boiling water and dates, then leaving it to cool into a delicious caramel-date slush before adding the final ingredients and baking.

The dates seem to permeate the whole pudding in a way they don't with the traditional method unless it's blended, when you don't get the lovely chunks of date you do here. The slightly smoky caramel creates a great flavour base that's more complex than just brown sugar. It's not quite as dark as some sticky toffee sponges - it's a brighter, rusty, autumnal brown.



My other contentious choice is to use baking powder instead of bicarbonate of soda. One of my biggest pet hates is the taste of bicarb coming through in a dish and I've had several sticky toffees when eating out that were ruined by it. I didn't see why I needed to use it instead of baking powder so I swapped.

I also salted the sauce because it transforms it into something so pleasurable that it's very hard to leave any in the pan while the pudding cooks. Other than that, I used a similar ratio of ingredients to normal and used Jane Grigson's recipe as my guide.

It's a sticky, sweet, hot-and-cold-and-saucy, mood-lifting, filling and generally all-round wonderful way to counteract the gloomy rain and finish off Pudding Month. I hope you've enjoyed the month as much as I have.



Finally, I couldn't resist sharing - last week our family expanded. Meet Albert: he's Arthur's nephew, just turned eight weeks old, enjoys helping me test recipes and is very cute. They're all back in Switzerland and he's settling in really well.



Sticky Toffee Pudding
(inspired by Jane Grigson's English Food and Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt)

For the pudding:
100g Medjool dates (weighed without stones)
90g white caster or granulated sugar
40g cold unsalted butter
125ml boiling water
1/2 tsp vanilla paste (or extract)
1 large egg
90g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of fine sea salt

For the sauce:
150g double cream
100g light brown sugar
50g unsalted butter
fine sea salt - I used fleur de sel - to taste

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F (fan). Chop roughly half the dates into big chunks and the rest into slightly smaller pieces. Tip the sugar into a wide, heavy-bottomed pan and spread out evenly. Turn the heat up to medium-high and watch carefully - after a few minutes, the sugar will start to liquify at the edges. Don't stir it - you can flick some of the crystals onto a liquid bit, but don't fiddle too much. Once it's nearly all melted and starts to caramelise, swirl it all together. Keep heating until you have a deep bronze colour. To stop it cooking, remove from the heat and add the butter and stir as it bubbles. Next add the boiling water, the dates and the vanilla paste. Stir until the caramel has dissolved (don't worry if it's clumped up - put it over a low heat and it will dissolve). Leave to cool for 10 minutes - it will thicken a bit.

Line a small baking dish with baking parchment (or grease really well with butter) - I used a 7x5"/12x18cm (minus the lip) pie dish with slightly sloping sides - a 6" or 7" tin would probably work too or something similar. Lightly whisk the egg to break it up. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the date-caramel pan and add the egg. Beat together until there are no lumps of flour. Scrape into the dish and place into the oven for 25 minutes.

While it bakes, make the sauce. Place the cream, brown sugar and butter into a pan and heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until you have a smooth sauce. Salt to taste a pinch at a time (keep going until you suddenly find yourself unable to stop sampling the sauce - that's the sweet spot) then pour into a jug.

After 25 minutes, a skewer or cake tester inserted into the sponge should come out clean (if not, pop it back in for another 5 minutes). Pour over some sauce and spread out to cover the whole top then put back into the oven for 3 minutes - the sauce should bubble over the top. Remove and serve hot with the extra sauce in a jug and scoops of vanilla ice cream.

The sponge reheats pretty well (it keeps in a sealed tin for a few days) covered by foil in the oven (I tend to just do the amount I'm serving). The sauce keeps in the fridge and can be reheated by placing the whole jug in a pan of hot/just simmering water and stirring until thin and hot.

(Serves 6-8, smallish but rich portions)



Three more syrupy-caramel puddings:
Sarah's Syrup Sponge
Cider Caramel, Sautéed Apples and Cinnamon Ice Cream
Crêpes Suzette

Lemon, Date and Ginger Cake

Yesterday I decided at about 11am that I needed to come back to Switzerland for a re-charge and to clear my head. I arrived at 10pm CH time. It was a bit of a whirlwind day but I do feel better for being out of Oxford. It can get very claustrophobic and skew your perceptions. Little things can seem life-or-death important. Luckily I didn't have much contact time and managed to rearrange what I did have so I could come. I've got to write the first draft of a dissertation-type essay in the next week, so I've got a lot to do while I'm here. Still, it's lovely to see my mum and the dogs.

I made this cake about a week ago. It's a great cake to have about if you're busy and in need of good energy boosts - it's not too unhealthy and is filling. I really love the flavours too. 

After I made it, mum tried the recipe too. She didn't have any dark muscovado and the result was very different from mine. Before I left yesterday I had the last slice of mine and then mum gave me a slice when I got here so I had a clear taste test. There's a big difference so make sure you get the proper dark sugar - it's too sweet and loses a lot of flavour without. I don't know how the brown sugar that Joy shows you how to make here would compare but it'd be worth a try. Also, don't refrigerate the cake.

Lemon, Date and Ginger Cake

(barely adapted from BBC Good Food, here)

200g stoned dates

200g butter

300g dark muscovado sugar

2 eggs

50g grated fresh ginger

zest of 1 lemon

200g self raising flour

250g apple in pea-sized pieces (I used 2 small cox)

couple of chunks of candied ginger, cut up

juice 1/2 lemon

icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 150C. Butter and line a 20 or 24 cm cake tin and place it onto a baking sheet. Put the dates into a small bowl and cover with boiling water while you prepare the rest. Grate the ginger, zest the lemon and peel, core and chop the apple. Put the butter and sugar in a medium-large saucepan and heat until melted and smooth. Turn the heat off and leave to cool for a minute. Drain the dates and chop them - I did most finely then a few slightly bigger chunks. Add the ginger, zest and eggs to the butter mix in the saucepan and beat until combined. Stir in the dates, then the flour, then the apple. Pour into the tin and put it (with the baking sheet) into the oven. Bake for 60 to 75 mins - it should be risen and a skewer should pull out moist crumbs from the centre, not goo.  Leave to cool in the tin. 

To decorate, I just made up a simple drizzling icing with some lemon juice and an appropriate amount of icing sugar. Good Food used melted white chocolate, which would also be nice. I then topped it with small chunks and slices of candied ginger. 

Keeps well wrapped up in cling film for a week on the counter (mine was clingfilmed to a cake stand and still was delicious 7 days on). Apparently you can freeze it without toppings for up to two months, well wrapped. 

(Serves 12-14)

Date Crunchies

Time is a very precious commodity at the moment. This week was meant to be a breather as I only had only essay due in, but somehow it turned into one of the most stressful weeks so far this term. I'm not even sure why.

When I feel like this, my creativity and productivity in the kitchen and with a camera wanes. I find my mind wandering to work and other problems while I cook and a sense of guilt starts creeping in. Hence why posts have been thin on the ground recently.

My mum used to make these a lot when I was little. She always told me stories about the horrific semolina puddings they were served at school while she made them, as these have semolina in the crumbly mixture to give a lovely texture.

These are a great autumn snack - warm and surprisingly filling. There's a wonderful butter and cinnamon smell as they come out of the oven, too. I've always adored the date filling with the lemon and spice, especially where it has bubbled against the sides of the pan and goes chewy and almost caramelised.

Date Crunchies
(adapted from Delia's Book of Cakes)

For the date layer:
225g soft pitted dates
4 tbsp water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the outer layers:
175g plain flour
175g fine semolina
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
pinch of fine sea salt
175g unsalted butter
75g brown sugar


Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F (fan). Grease a rectangular tin of about 20 x 30 cm. Chop the dates up into chunks. Put into a small saucepan and add all the the other ingredients. Warm over a medium heat until it forms a paste and you think you'll be able to spread it. You want it to still have some texture, however. Put aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour, semolina and pinch of salt together in a mixing bowl. Melt the butter and sugar together in a small saucepan. Pour into the flour bowl and mix well. Quickly tip half of the mixture into the pan. Spread out and press down into an even layer. Scrape the date mix on top and spread out, right to the edges. Use a fork to crumble up the remaining topping and then sprinkle over the top. Fork it over so that it covers the date mixture evenly then press down gently. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack then cut into bars and serve.

(Makes about 12-16)

(Updated Feb 2015, again April 2018 - I took out the sugar from the filling as the dates are sweet enough, and added a touch of ginger to the outer layers, which I really liked.)

Sticky Toffee Pudding Volcanoes

I first made these for my Mum last Mothers' Day. This year I made them again for pudding and they were very nice - but not stunning.  I've always like Sticky Toffee Puddings - they're reliably good pub puddings - but they've never really blown me away. 

Today I decided to re-photograph one of the remaining cakes as I hadn't got what I wanted on the night. So I made up another batch of sauce but this time I added a new touch  -  a little ground ginger. I tasted some and immediately went to find mum to force a spoonful into her mouth as it was so lovely, but I still wasn't 100% sure it would work with the puddings. So I brushed and poured it over and started taking photos. The dogs and Mum were all hovering close by, waiting for me to finish - and I have to admit, I really wanted to just quit and and discover how it all came together. 

When I finally finished we attacked. I had to do a little happy dance around the flat. The ginger takes the pudding to another level - every flavour is enhanced. It's also totally addictive - despite having just eaten tea we ate the whole thing (including the spare sauce) in about two minutes flat. 

I named these volcanoes because of the way they puffed up and broke the surface when they baked. I had decided that instead of making squares cut from a tray, I would use individual dessert tins.  I popped them in the oven with a little trepidation as to how they would turn out. Turns out it's a good thing I quite like the rustic, uneven look... 

Still, it turned out to be for the best as it meant I could fill the middles with ginger butterscotch 'lava' which then soaked through the sponge and that's definitely a good thing.  Look at the final photo and you'll see what I mean!

I dedicate these to my Mum, for being absolutely wonderful and for teaching me to follow my intuition and sprinkle a little ginger into something on a whim.  

Edit: My new and improved recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding is here.