Sticky Toffee Pudding — Print Recipe

A gloriously moist date sponge drenched in warm, buttery toffee sauce and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

200g pitted Medjool dates
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200ml boiling water
85g butter, softened
150g dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
For sauce: 150g dark brown sugar, 100g butter, 200ml double cream, 1 tsp vanilla

1 Soak dates in boiling water with bicarbonate of soda for 10 min. Blitz to a rough paste.
2 Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour and vanilla.
3 Stir in the date paste. Pour into a greased and lined 20cm square tin.
4 Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-35 min until a skewer comes out clean.
5 Make sauce: melt butter and sugar together, add cream and vanilla. Simmer 3 min until thick and glossy.
6 Poke holes in the warm cake with a skewer. Pour half the sauce over. Serve warm with remaining sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Did You Know?

The Sharrow Bay Hotel in the Lake District is credited with inventing this dessert in the 1970s, and it quickly conquered every pub menu in England.