Sticky Toffee Pudding

Best dessert ever.  We're talking not a crumb left, lick your plate delicious.  Sticky Toffee Pudding.

My oldest son and his girlfriend gave me a beautiful cookbook for my birthday, Dessert of the Day from Williams Sonoma.  I'm thinking it was a not-so-subtle attempt at suggesting that I make more desserts.  We don't typically do dessert after dinner, unless it's a special occasion, or we have company for dinner.  This is a beautiful book, and it didn't take long for post-it tags to appear on pages as we all found desserts that we wanted to try.

Sticky Toffee Pudding has always been a family favourite.  I actually shared another recipe for this decadent dessert a few years ago, it was one of the first recipes I posted.  

If they can find it on a restaurant menu, Sticky Toffee Pudding is something the kids almost always order for dessert.  It just made sense to try making it at home, and I was surprised to learn that it's not a complicated recipe at all.  The star of show here is dates.  They give the pudding (which is really just a dense, moist cake) it's distinctive sweet flavour and texture.  And toffee sauce, lots of it :)

Chopped dates soaked in boiling water with baking soda make up the a large part of the batter.

The home made toffee sauce pushes this dessert over the top.  

And the half hour spent stirring counts as time spent at the gym.  I think I may have miscalculated the amount of butter or cream I used because it took forever to thicken.  However long it takes, don't stop stirring.

The end result was well worth it.  This is a very sweet and incredibly tasty dessert, best served warm.  

Sticky Toffee Pudding

From Williams Sonoma Dessert of the Day Cookbook

Ingredients

1/2 cup pitted and finely chopped dates

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup boiling water

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Toffee Sauce

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour eight 1/2 cup custard cups or individual baking pans and place on baking sheet.

In small bowl, combine the dates and baking soda with the boiling water.  Let stand until cool, about 10 minutes.  Mash the dates to break them down further.  With a mixer, beat sugar and butter together on medium speed until light and creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir to combine.  Add the date mixture and stir well.  The batter will be thin.  Fill the custard cups about 2/3 full.

Bake until the puddings are puffed and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the brown sugar and cream.  Whisk until the sauce thickens, 5-10 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla and salt.

To serve, unmold each warm pudding onto a plate and top with the toffee sauce.

Serves 8.

 

  

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