Sticky Toffee Pudding

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Makes 5 puddings

Ingredients:

For the pudding:

225g whole Medjool dates
175g boiling water
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g self-raising flour, plus extra for greasing
1sp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
85g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
140g demerara sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
100ml milk

For the toffee sauce:

175g light muscovado sugar
50g butter, cut into pieces
225ml double cream
1 tbsp black treacle

This recipe is an absolute favourite of mine, from the wonderful Angela Nilsen.

  1. Stone and chop the dates quite small, put them in a bowl, then pour the boiling water over. Leave for about 30 minutes until cool and well-soaked, then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in the vanilla extract.
  2. Butter and flour five dariole moulds and sit them on a baking sheet.
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4.
  4. While the dates are soaking, make the puddings. Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda together and beat the eggs in a separate bowl.
  5. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl for a few minutes until slightly creamy (the mixture will be grainy from the sugar). Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between additions.
  6. Beat in the black treacle then, using a large metal spoon, gently fold in one third of the flour, then half the milk, being careful not to overbeat. Repeat until all the flour and milk has been used.
  7. Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter. The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter. Spoon it evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until risen and firm.
  8. Meanwhile, put the sugar and butter for the sauce in a medium saucepan with half the cream. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar has completely dissolved.
  9. Stir in the black treacle, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 minutes until it is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn.
  10. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the cream.
  11. Remove the puddings from the oven. Leave in the tins for a few minutes, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out. You can now serve them with the sauce drizzled all over and dive into a shimmering pool of toffee goodness.

Warning: may cause giggling with glee.