Excuse me, while I shrink myself down to Honey I Shrunk The Kids-size and then make myself a bed out of this pudding. There is something about the smell of this thing, with it’s subtle spices, buttery base and sweet dates, that sings a tune of ultimate comfort to me.
So much so that I would happily go to sleep on it. And then I would wake up, and harness one of the ants that came to feast on the pudding and ride it to safety just like the kid from HISTK…you know what, never mind. Back to dessert!
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a big, beautiful British classic! Sticky, lush dates folded into a brown sugar and butter sponge base, which gets smothered in toffee sauce when it’s still warm out of the oven. What you get is a beautifully flavoursome, puddingy cake that’s totally sticky and soused with gorgeous toffee.
Plus, the whole thing comes together very simply – no heavy machinery required, except to cream together the butter and sugar – and the toffee sauce is just three ingredients in a pot, brought to the boil and given a stir. No purees, no processors, no sugar thermometers, no crust rolling, no nothing!
If you didn’t see where I was going with this already, I’m saying that this is absolutely the perfect thing for any holiday dinner. Friends over for a pre-Thanksgiving or pre-Christmas shindig? Make this. Looking for something unusual to add to your family dinner? This is the one. It’s got all the warm holiday flavours and that decadent, cozy holiday feeling that this time of year is all about.
The real bonus is that this doubles as a delicious morning-tea treat; it’s perfect next to a cup of coffee or a mug of tea, sliced straight out of the fridge. My one non-traditional addition is a few tablespoons of spicy stem ginger. It comes in jars, and it’s basically candied ginger stored in syrup, it’s beautifully tender and adds another dimension that I adore. If you’re not a fan, or you can’t find it, no sweat – just leave it out!
xx Sarah.
- 1½ cups (200g) pitted dates, chopped
- 1 cup (250ml) boiling water
- 1 stick + 6 tbsp (200g) butter
- ⅓ cup (75g) dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (75g) caster sugar (or granulated sugar)
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 3 eggs
- 1 + ½ cups (225g) plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp chopped stem ginger in syrup
- 1 cup (225g) dark brown sugar
- 1 stick (115g) butter
- ½ cup (125ml) heavy cream
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9 inch cake tin or similar sized baking dish.
- First, place the chopped dates into a heatproof jug and cover them with the boiling water. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter, sugars and spices until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between and scraping the bowl as necessary. The mixture should be very pale.
- Add in the flour and baking powder, the stem ginger, and the dates with all of the water and stir everything together until just combined.
- Scrape the mixture into your greased tin and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the pudding springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out clean.
- While the pudding is baking, make the sauce. Place all the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring. Once all the ingredients are melted and combined, boil for about a minute or two, until slightly thickened.
- While the pudding is still hot, pour a drizzle of sauce over the top, and then dish it out and let each person pour over more gorgeous toffee sauce as they eat.
- This is lovely with fresh cream and a sprinkle of sea salt flakes.
Sarah looks AMAZING, except where’s the ginger in the recipe?
Haha, thanks for the pick up Dini! Fixed now!
Hee Hee – BTW this is totes gonna be dessert for my Christmas Dinner. Question – could I sub the stem ginger with crystallized ginger you think? We don’t get stem ginger in Sg but I do love the taste of ginger so I don’t want to omit.
Yaaay! I’m sure you’ll love it! And yeah, you could totally sub with crystallized ginger – but what you should do in that case is chop it up and throw it in with the dates and boiling water at the start. That way, it will soften a little and be beautifully chewy in the final dish!
xx
Sarah
Sticky Toffee Pudding is my absolute favourite – I always order it at restaurants but I’ve never tried to make it myself. Definitely giving it a go (and love the idea of stem ginger!)
Helloooooo beautiful! That sauce is so unreal. I need this now!
Could i use regular stem ginger not in syrup?
Hey Angela, to be honest I have only ever seen it in syrup, so I’m not sure what plain stem ginger is? Do you mean like regular fresh ginger, or candied ginger?
Ten points for the Honey I Shrunk the Kids reference! Please do a Ghostbusters post next. :) I’m not gonna lie, I’d sleep on a sticky toffee pudding bed too. No shame in that game, this looks delicious!
Stay puft marshmallow man? The bell tolls for thee.
I love sticky toffee pudding, and what a great idea adding the ginger – yum! Great tin too, enamel always looks great :)
Sarah this thing speaks to my soul! If I shrink myself too, would you rent me a piece of that sticky toffee land? I make STP all the time and it’s always a hit, but never though about adding ginger to it. Now you’re putting thought to my mind.
YESSSSS, you can absolutely rent on my toffee mountain! The more the merrier!
Oh my gosh, sticky toffee pudding is one of my favorite desserts ever. Probably in my top five, for sure. This looks absolutely stunning Sarah! Love the ginger addition!