Serves: 15-20 Desserts.
Time to Make: 80min.

Sticky toffee pudding has become a beloved British classic, particularly associated with the Lake District, though exact origins of this dessert remain somewhat of a mystery. It is quite a simple dessert, made of common baking ingredients. Most recipes would use dried dates.

In this recipe, we use fresh dates, which can add more flavour. We also use individual foil baking moulds/cups, which can be bought from the shop or online stores. And a quick tip before we start baking – caramel should be made first. We will be adding it on the bottom of the baking moulds/cups for the extra moisture and for the toffee mix not to stick to the bottom.

INGREDIENTS FOR CARAMEL SAUCE

• 500 g x Dark brown sugar
• 150 g x Unsalted butter
• 300 ml x Double cream

INGREDIENTS FOR TOFFEE PUDDING

• 530 g x Self-rising flour
• 525 g x Dates
• 300 g x Caster sugar
• 225 g x Unsalted butter
• 200 ml x Boiling water
• 6 x Medium size eggs
• 2 teaspoons x Baking powder
• Optional – for garnish we use vanilla ice cream and fresh mint, but some people prefer clotted cream and icing sugar.

METHOD FOR CARAMEL SAUCE

Chef’s TIP:

Caramel Preparation: Ensure that caramel sauce would melt but not boil intensively, as it might split and become a greasy and fatty mixture.

METHOD FOR TOFFEE PUDDING

Step 1: Start with cutting the 225 g of unsalted butter into 1 cm cubes. Then leave it in the room temperature.

Step 2: Take 525 g of dates and remove their pits/stones. Roughly chop the dates and add them into a container. Then sprinkle on the chopped dates 2 teaspoons of baking powder, pour on them 200 ml of boiling water and set aside the container.

Step 3: Take a separate bowl, add to it 300 g of caster sugar and your 1 cm butter cubes, which were cut earlier in step 1. Use spatula or a whisk to make an even mass by beating and mixing it.

Step 4: Add 6 medium sized eggs – one by one – into the sugar and butter mix, prepared in step 3. Mix well to combine all ingredients together.

Step 5: Take container with dates, baking powder and water, prepared in step 2, and pour its all contents to the bowl with the mix, prepared in step 4.

Step 6: Finally, gradually add 530 g of self-rising flour by mixing it evenly into the bowl of ingredients, combined in step 5.

Step 7: Now prepare your baking moulds/cups by adding caramel sauce, just to cover the bottom of each mould/cup.

Step 8: Add toffee pudding mix from step 6, in baking moulds/cups, prepared in step 7, leaving around 1 cm empty in each mould/cup as it will rise, when baked.

Step 9: All baking moulds/cups should be placed in a deep tray, into which hot water should be also poured and the tray should be cover with the tin foil. This cooking method is also known as Bain Marie.

Step 10: Preheat the oven to 170 – 180 C°, place the tray inside and bake for 45 minutes.

Step 11: Once it is ready, remove each dessert from the baking mould/cup, add some caramel sauce on top and enjoy.

Optional: As mentioned earlier this dessert can also be served with ice cream or clotted cream, and garnished with fresh mint or icing sugar.

Note: Baking time may vary depending on various factors: the oven type, baking mould/cup size, the volume of the mix added, and the moisture of toffee pudding mix prepared. To ensure the sticky toffee pudding is baked, spike it with a small knife or a toothpick – it should not leave a mark on it, when the dessert is baked and ready.

Chef’s TIP:

Dessert Storage: This dessert can be frozen and kept in a freezer for at least 3 months. If kept in the fridge, it should be consumed within a week.