Sticky Date Pudding with Toffee Sauce

By cookism

We gotta admit. We're more inclined to the hand-holding, movie-watching kind of date than the sweet wrinkly fruit. But once in a while, we venture out of our comfort zones and try to surprise ourselves. With the sticky date pudding, we were mind blown! There is a mystifying charm in the way the rich and moist sponge harmonizes with a luxurious shower of silky toffee sauce; the manner in which a spoonful of this delightful pudding sticks to the walls of your mouth, leaving behind a lingering taste of buttery date sweetness. Even as I type these words, I find my sweet tooth aching with longing. Get your own fix now!

(Recipe courtesy of Angela Nilsen)

Ingredients

• TOFFEE SAUCE:
• 1 cup whole Medjool dates
• 3/4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 3/4 cups self-raising flour, plus extra for greasing, divided
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened plus extra for greasing, divided
• 10 tablespoons demerara sugar
• 2 tablespoons black treacle
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cups muscovado sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup double cream
• 1 tablespoon black treacle

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 47mins
Adapted from cookism.tumblr.com

Preparation

Step 1

Remove pits from dates and finely chop them into small pieces. Transfer to a bowl and pour boiling water over. Allow them to stand for about 30 minutes until cool, then mash roughly with a fork and stir in the vanilla bean paste.

Butter and flour eight 8x7-centimeter mini pudding moulds and set them aside.

Preheat oven to 356°F.

Mix flour and bicarbonate of soda in a dry bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together for a few minutes until slightly creamy (mixture will be grainy from the sugar). Beat eggs in a separate bowl and add them into the butter-sugar mixture a little at a time, beating well between additions. Next, beat in the black treacle, then gently fold in one-third of the flour and half of the milk with a spatula. Repeat until all the flour and milk is used. Be careful not to over-mix. Gently stir in the dates. You will achieve a soft and thick batter.

Divide batter between the moulds, leaving a gap from the rim to allow space for the puddings to rise. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

While the puddings are baking, make toffee sauce. Combine sugar, butter and half the cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the black treacle, turn up the heat slightly and allow the mixture to bubble away for 2-3 minutes until it is a rich toffee color, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and stir in the rest of the cream.

When the puddings are ready, remove them from the oven and leave aside until cool enough to touch. Trim off excess and run a palette knife along the insides of the tins to loosen them. To serve, drizzle the toffee sauce over the puddings or soak them in the sauce overnight for stickier puddings. Spoil yourself further with an indulgent scoop of ice cream and a tuile wheel! Dig in!