Sticky toffee pudding

The world’s best sticky toffee pudding

If your goal is to make the world’s best Sticky Toffee Pudding, you’ve come to the right place. There are so many recipes for this fabulous dessert on the internet that it can become very bewildering.

So! You can stop right here because I’ve done the hard work for you. This is the only recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding that you will ever need.

First, what is Sticky Toffee Pudding?

The United States is an English-speaking country, but there are definite discrepancies between English, as it’s spoken in Britan, and American. The same word often has different meanings in each. In American, a jumper is a sleeveless dress worn over a shirt, while in English, a jumper is the garment that is known as a sweater in the U.S. Our Fries are their Chips, our Chips are their Crisps, our Cookies are their Biscuits. When Brits say Jelly, they’re referring to what Americans call Jell-O. Where we say Entrée meaning main course, they use the word to mean what we call an Appetizer.

Pudding is one of those words. We Americans think of pudding as a thick, custard-type dessert, such as chocolate pudding, rice pudding, tapioca pudding, and so on. Traditionally, English puddings were steamed savory dishes (or is that savoury?), such as blood pudding (which sounds awful to us but is actually a tasty pork sausage). In modern English, the word pudding usually refers to what we call dessert. As in, “What are we having for pudding tonight?”

The word pudding is also used to denote a cake that is steamed, rather than baked. Enter into the lexicon such treats as Plum Pudding, Marmalade Pudding, Christmas Pudding, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and Spotted Dick (No, it’s not a medical condition).

So now that’s sorted.

A British ex-pat, who also happens to be one of my nearest and dearest, was coming to dinner with his wife. I knew that his favorite dessert is Sticky Toffee Pudding. Although I’ve eaten it, and with much gusto, I’ve never made it. I was determined to do so.

I began to explore recipes for Sticky Toffee Pudding. They were all so dissimilar to one another that, after reading through ten of them, I felt totally lost in the woods. About two thirds of them said to bake the pudding and I knew that’s not what I wanted to do. The beautiful, tender, and moist texture is a result of slow steaming. Besides, I have a lovely little pudding mold and I was dying to use it.

With so many differences in opinion on how much to use of each ingredient and in the method, I almost gave up in frustration. And then I said to myself, “Ok, Self. You know how to cook. Just take them all into consideration, zero in on the concept, use your instinct, and do what makes sense.”

I did. Ultimately, the recipe that I used was my own, slightly different from all the others. I also simplified the process, eliminating steps that I found to be unnecessary.

My friend declared, with great enthusiasm, that it was the best Sticky Toffee Pudding he’d ever had. In fact, they went home with half the leftovers (I insisted upon keeping some), and they’re not usually members of the doggie bag club.

So search no more and don’t fret. Just make this. You’ll be glad you did.

By the way, the timing is very forgiving. I started it late on the night before it was to be served. Planning to steam it for 90 minutes, it should have been done at exactly midnight. I sat on the sofa, fiddling with my phone, waiting for it to be done…and I woke up, phone in hand, at 1:30 am. I raced to the kitchen. Fortunately, the water hadn’t boiled out—that would have been a disaster. I lifted the cover from the pot, took out the pudding tin, and removed the cover from the mold. The pudding was perfect. Whew!

Notes: If you’re familiar with my recipes you’ll know that I usually succumb to the opinion that more is more. I love using herbs and spices. You’ll see that I don’t use them here. While some recipes call for the addition of warm spices, I think they’d be superfluous and would detract from the simple deliciousness.

Do weigh, rather than measure, your ingredients if at all possible. The results will be more consistent and reliable.

Equipment:

You’ll need a 1.6 liter pudding basin, aluminum or ceramic (avoid plastic). You can use a glass or ceramic bowl in a pinch—just make sure it’s heat proof.

This is the one I have. It’s cheap, it’s perfect, and I recommend it highly.

A steamer basket is very helpful here. If not, you can use a flat plate that’s smaller in diameter than your pot, to support the pudding. This is the one I’ve had for ten years. It’s perfect and it’s insanely cheap.

A tall pot is necessary. You will need to have room to cover the pot once your pudding is inside.

For the Pudding—

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups (6½oz/177g) dates (pitted)

• Boiling water as needed

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 113 grams (4 tablespoons, 2oz, half a stick) butter (softened)

• 165 grams (¾ cup packed) dark brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup

• 2 large eggs (room temperature)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 136 grams (4 ½ oz, 1 cup+ 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

• Prepare your pudding basin by brushing it with softened butter. Make sure you get all the spots, including the center post. Sprinkle in some flour and turn the basin until everything is well-coated, then tap out the excess over the sink.

• Chop the dates finely by hand—a food processor will provide you with a sticky clump—and put them into a small bowl. Pour in boiling water, just enough to cover the dates. Then cover the bowl and allow the dates to soften for 10 minutes.

• Stir the baking soda into the dates. It will fizzle up. (which is kinda fun)

• Transfer the date mixture to a small food processor or a blender. You can use an immersion blender, but you won’t achieve as smooth a consistency. Some people like it with a bit more texture, but that’s not my choice. Process the date mixture until it becomes a smooth paste. Set it aside to cool as you prepare the batter.

• Using a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until it’s light and fluffy.

• Blend in the eggs, one at a time and beating between each addition.

• Add the vanilla paste or extract and beat until fully incorporated.

• Fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt. It’s not necessary to combine them first. Beat on the lowest speed until the flour is mixed in, or you’ll have flour flying all over your kitchen. Once the flour is no longer visible, beat the batter until smooth.

• Add the date mixture and beat until just combined.

• Pour the batter into the prepared pudding basin evenly. If it has a cover, secure the cover. If not, place a circle of parchment paper directly onto the batter and then tightly cover the basin with aluminum foil.

• Arrange your steamer basket in your pot and place the pudding basin on it. My basket has a center post, and it fit perfectly into the center post of my pudding tin.

• Pour water into the pot, enough to come half way up the sides of your pudding. Then remove the pudding and bring the pot to a boil. When the water is boiling, put your pudding back in, turn down the heat, cover the pot tightly, and adjust the heat so that the water remains at a gentle simmer.

• While your pudding is steaming, be sure to check it from time to time to be sure that the water doesn’t boil out. Don’t remove the cover more often than necessary—you don’t want to lose all your lovely steam!

• After 90 minutes, carefully remove the cover from your pudding basin. Using a cake tester, check to see if the pudding is done. If not, cover it again and keep steaming it, checking every 30 minutes or so. While it’s easy, and bad, to over-bake a cake, the steaming method is much more forgiving.

• Once it’s done, take your pudding out of the pot. Allow it to cool undisturbed for 30 minutes before turning it out onto a serving plate. I gently ran a blunt knife around the side, including the center post, before turning it over. I can’t say that it was absolutely necessary, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

Toffee Sauce—

Ingredients:

• 113 grams (8 tablespoons, 4 ounces,1 stick) unsalted butter

• 266 grams (1 1/4  cups) packed dark brown sugar

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) bourbon or brandy (optional, but recommended)

Method:

I’ve discovered that adding ingredients one at a time is unnecessary. The results are just as good when you stick everything into the pot at once.

• Combine all ingredients, except for the vanilla and bourbon, in a small saucepan.

• Bring the pot to a boil, slowly, while stirring constantly. The ingredients will come together. It will seem very thin, but keep cooking the sauce. It will soon turn into a gorgeous, thick, silky toffee sauce.

• Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla and the bourbon. (Note: if you’re serving children, you may want to add the bourbon during the cooking so that the finished sauce will be alcohol-free.)

If you plan to serve your sticky toffee pudding right away, spoon about half the toffee sauce over the top, slowly, so that the cake has time to absorb some of it and it doesn’t all end up pooled at the bottom of the dish. You can use a spoon to keep taking it up from the dish and pouring it over the top again. I like to take a damp paper towel and wipe around the plate so that the caramel on the bottom looks tidy and the plate looks clean—it just makes for a nicer presentation. Serve the remaining sauce, and any garnishes (see below) on the side.

If you’re planning to serve your sticky toffee pudding later, keep the toffee sauce separate from the cake. Wrap the cake well so that it doesn’t dry out. When ready to serve, re-heat the cake in the microwave and do the same with the toffee sauce, then proceed as above.

Sticky toffee pudding is best served warm.

You can serve your pudding just like this, but a scoop of freshly whipped cream (I like to add a dash of bourbon), or custard sauce, or even vanilla ice cream is a fabulous garnish. My go-to is the whipped cream. It takes minutes to prepare.

Whipped Cream:

Combine 1 cup of cold heavy cream in the bowl of a mixer with 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Use the whisk attachment and beat the cream until is turns into…well…whipped cream. It only takes a few minutes. Optional: Once your cream is whipped, add a tablespoon or two of bourbon and whip again briefly, to combine. It adds a wonderful flavor. If you like that sort of thing. And I like that sort of thing…