Sticky toffee pudding
The pudding that makes a Sunday roast feel finished. Dark, sticky, and generous with the sauce — this is the version we make once the clocks go back and don't stop until spring.
Dates do the magic — they melt into the sponge and make it darker and moister than a plain cake has any right to be. The sauce is just butter, sugar and cream; don't overthink it.
Ingredients
- 200g dates, stoned and chopped · 1 tsp bicarb
- 85g butter, softened · 150g dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs · 175g self-raising flour
- Sauce: 100g butter · 100g dark brown sugar
- 150ml double cream · pinch of salt
Method
- Cover the dates with 250ml just-boiled water, stir in the bicarb, and leave 10 minutes to soften. Blitz or mash to a rough purée. Oven to 180°C fan, butter a baking dish.
- Cream butter and sugar, beat in the eggs, fold in the flour and the date purée. Into the dish, bake 30–35 minutes until springy.
- Sauce: melt everything together, bubble 2 minutes, add the salt. Poke holes in the warm sponge, pour over half the sauce, serve the rest at the table.
Kit for this recipe
A square baking dish — Anolon 23cm tin, £17.99deep enough for sauce pooling without overspill
A small saucepan — £8 at Dunelmthe sauce wants a steady bubble, not a wide pan boil-off
A stick blender — Dunelm 600W, £16smooth date purée without dirtying the food processor
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