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Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Difficulty: Medium | Total Time: | Active Time: | Makes: 8 servings

The exact origins of this popular dessert, a combination of dates, brown sugar, and toffee sauce, may be in dispute, but it’s undoubtedly British and undoubtedly delicious.

What to buy: Medjools are our favorite dates to use in this recipe, though other kinds would work if you are having a hard time finding Medjools.

Game plan: Have all the cake ingredients at room temperature before beginning.

For a slacker solution, leave off the toffee sauce and either substitute high-quality, store-bought toffee or homemade caramel sauce, or serve with a splash of bourbon, a drizzle of heavy cream, a scoop of ice cream, or a dollop of crème fraîche.

This recipe was featured as part of our Baked Sweets photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

  • 1/2 pound dates, pitted and coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature

For the toffee sauce:

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
For the cake:

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat 8 (6-ounce) ramekins with butter and flour; set aside.
  2. Combine dates, water, and baking soda in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Place salt and flour in a medium bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside. Bring a medium pot of water to a simmer over high heat for a water bath.
  4. Combine butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until light and airy, about 5 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  5. Add vanilla extract, then beat in eggs one at a time, just until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in date mixture until well combined, then stir in flour mixture until just incorporated (don’t overmix).
  6. Divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins and set them in a roasting pan or baking dish (you will likely need to use both a 13-by-9-inch dish and an 8-by-8-inch dish to fit them all). Pour simmering water into the bottom of the baking dishes until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Very carefully place the baking dishes on the center rack of the oven. Bake until the center of each cake is just set and a cake tester inserted into the middle of each comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the toffee sauce.

For the toffee sauce:

  1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When it foams, add brown sugar and vanilla extract or seeds, stir once, and heat until bubbling and the color of maple syrup, about 5 minutes.
  2. Carefully add cream in a slow stream while stirring, and cook until the sauce bubbles up and increases in volume, about 2 minutes; remove from heat.
  3. When the cakes are finished, remove the ramekins from the oven and place on a cooling rack to come to room temperature. Once the cakes are cool, run a knife around the perimeter of each and invert to remove from the ramekins, then place upright on a serving plate. Serve the cakes at room temperature or slightly warmed, covered in warm toffee sauce.
    Write a review | 17 Reviews

  • Shecooks1, we never tested in a muffin pan, so I can't say with confidence that it would work as ceramic ramekins and metal pans would cook the batter at different rates. If you try it, let us know how it works out.

    Amy Wisniewski, CHOW

  • I am not fond of dates either, and I find nothing objectionable in ANY STP I've ever tried. I'd give it a whirl. Interestingly, every restaurant I've had it at doesn't do individual servings, but rather squares cut out of a larger pan. And plenty of softly whipped unsweetened cream on the side, which, rather unbelievably, cuts the richness nicely. One of the great desserts.

  • Could you use muffin pans and the water bath??

  • I know I'm coming late to this thread, but I have an answer for Freelancer - the baking soda helps break down the cell walls in the dates, so they make a more uniform "mush" when you cook them in the first step. Thank you, Shirley Corriher.

  • Freelancer, I always thought it was to leaven the mixture so it doesn't separate and sink to the bottom of the batter. It's easier to mix two chemically similar mixtures than one acidic and one base.. I could have that all wrong, however...

  • I'm curious: does anyone know why it's necessary to add baking soda to the steeped dates? I've looked at, and made, several recipes for Sticky Toffee Pudding and they all have that step in common. What does the baking soda do at that point in the recipe?

  • I made this for Christmas Eve, and it was WONDERFUL! The funny thing is, I can't bake. I can cook, but I can't bake, and was a little petrified. This recipe was quite easy, and the best tasting I've had in years.

    One note: I cooked it for the time specified, and tested it with a toothpick as directed, and they seemed done. However, after cooling them and taking one out of a ramekin, they were gushy and gross looking. I put them back in the oven for 20 more minutes, on 250 degrees, and then they were perfect. Could've been my junky old non-insulated O'Keefe & Merritt, though...

  • @ fabelmo - I don't see why you couldn't sub in an equal weight of plump raisins. :)

  • i absolutely detest dates what can i substitute it with? Everything else sounds GREAT!!

    Thanks

  • What a great treat. The toffee sauce was killer and the cake was very moist.

  • A butterscotch (emphasis on the SCOTCH) sauce would be great too, I'm sure!

  • Looks yummy. An easier alternative was published in Gourmet a few years ago, and is available on Epicurious.com. It uses only 5 ingredients for the cake. I've made it many times and is a family favorite.

  • The trick to baking a pudding cake in a larger pan is a water bath, starting with cold water. Yeah, the results are usually a bit funny looking, but the water bath will enable the center to cook through without burning the edges of the pudding. For a recipe this size, I'd go with a square 8 by 8 pan, and be sure the water bath is as high as the pudding in the pan. The edges of the pudding will probably be higher than the center after it cools, but I consider that a wall of pudding to hold more sauce! This is a solution for family only, IMO. The joshing about the appearance of dessert I'd get from friends at a dinner party would make me go out and buy ramekins if I didn't have them already.

  • ap616: if you don't have ramekins, you should consider buying some as their helpful for holding ingredients while you prep a recipe, can be used to hold sauce, and are useful for baking. most kitchen supply shops sell them for $1-$2 each. we tried baking this in round cake pans and springform pans and the results were never as good as when baked individually.

  • If I don't have ramekins, what size of pan could I use?

  • Thank you for including alternate measurements!

    AnnieG

  • This recipe is...SO...good...! Truly dangerous, in fact!

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