Sticky toffee pudding first appeared in England in the 1970's. It's a moist sponge cake make with rehydrated dates and covered in a rich toffee sauce. It's commonly served with vanilla custard or ice cream.
I had Sticky toffee pudding for the first time back in April. On a girl's trip to Vegas, my friend and I ate at Hell's Kitchen. We did the tasting menu, which was the scallops, beef wellington and sticky toffee pudding.
For years I watched Gordon Ramsey yell at chefs for those recipes. That meant I needed to try them, right? In Vegas, Gordon's version has a salted caramel and Speculoos ice cream. Two of my favorite things!
February's theme for Baking Bloggers is British food. At first, I had no idea what to make. Vaguely I remembered trying British food and not really caring for it.
I have no idea where that came from. When I started to search British foods, I found tons and tons that I wanted to make. But, it didn't take long to settle on a sticky toffee pudding recipe.
The varieties looked delicious, but I wanted to stick with the classic version for this blogging event. Sticky toffee pudding can be served individually in ramekins or in a larger baking dish. It's your choice.
Recipe
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 8 oz dates pitted and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the Sauce
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine dates, baking soda and vanilla in a bowl. Pour boiling water on top and let sit for 15 minutes.
- In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly pour the flour mixture into the stand mixer until combined.
- Without draining, pour the rehydrated date mixture into the mixer and mix until just combined.
- Fill ramekins ⅔ full or spread mixture evenly into the prepared 8x8 pan. Bake ramekins for 18-20 minutes, 8x8 baking dish for 20-22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool while the sauce is being prepared.
For the Sauce
- Combine the butter, sugar, cream and salt together in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, about 7 minutes.
- Ramekin baked cakes can be turned out onto small plates. Pour sauce on top and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Knowing I wanted to take this to work, I made 3 servings in ramekins for us to enjoy at home and the rest was poured into a baking dish to take to work.
If you have a sweet tooth, you're going to love this cake! It's light and airy light a sponge cake should be. And that sauce? Yeah I wouldn't blame you if you made extra, poured some in your coffee, over your pancakes...just about anywhere!
Baking Bloggers
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- English Granary-Style Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories
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- Mini Toad in the Hole by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
- Raspberry Bakewell Tarts by Pandemonium Noshery
- Salmon in Puff Pastry by Reviews, Chews & How-Tos
- Sticky Toffee Pudding by Cookaholic Wife
- Strawberry Dark Chocolate Shortbread Biscuits by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Traditional Scottish Shortbread with Rose by The Schizo Chef
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Wendy Klik
How exciting that you were able to score a table at Hell's Kitchen. Did you have to order them way in advance?
NicholeL
No, I think we got lucky though. I didn't see that it was even an option until February or so and we were going in April. I looked and there were 3 days with 3-5 times left on each day so I booked it right away.
April
This was AWESOME and VERY MUCH like our experience at Hell's Kitchen - Las Vegas!!! I couldn't find my ramekins so I used the 8x8 pan; the cooking time should be longer, until there's only very little jiggle in the middle. Step 4 refers to salt in the cake but wasn't listed in cake ingredients. I added 1/4 tsp & the cake seemed just fine. At HKLV, they served ours with a speculoos ice cream. To recreate the experience, I mixed 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Cookie Butter with 1 T. coconut oil, microwaved 30 seconds and drizzled over the ice cream, just before serving. Perfect!!!
NicholeL
Thank you so much for your comment. I missed adding the salt to the ingredients, but the 1/4 tsp is the right amount. I'm so jealous, I didn't get speculoos ice cream! I feel like I need to plan a trip back to Vegas just for that.
kelly johnson
I have read so many recipes and I like yours the best bit does it have to be baked in a water bath?
NicholeL
I think the water bath comes from the fact that ovens used to be less precise and by putting the ramekin in water, the water would never get over the boiling point so the recipe wouldn't either. I have read other recipes where if you make it in a baking dish, vs. a ramekin, that a water bath isn't needed. I haven't tried that way though. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
I've only had this dessert once and I almost fell out of my chair in total lust! I think I really need a do-over!!!
NicholeL
You do! I don't repeat a lot of desserts, but this one definitely needs to be a holiday staple or something.
Jael
I just ate there with my girlfriends yesterday and right then I started looking for the recipe! It’s amazing and rich and that ice-cream was divine! I can’t wait to try your version!
NicholeL
I hope you like it! Also, SUPER JEALOUS! I need to go back to Vegas and Hell's Kitchen.
Karen
Perfect for the theme! These sound delicious!
Jolene
I could swim in that sauce, and the texture on the cake looks fantastic! This would definitely be a hit here.
NicholeL
That sauce is just begging to have a finger dragged through it! I had to stop myself. 🙂
Elina
I had this pudding at Hell Kitchen in LV. I wasn’t really excited when I saw it as a choice on a menu but when I tried it.,.it was one of the best thing! Does this version taste like the original? I really would love to recreate that delicious taste 🙂 Thank you!
NicholeL
I had a flavored one at Hell's Kitchen, but I'd say that this is definitely really similar.