Very Sticky Toffee Pudding
A good sticky toffee pudding should be more than simple sugar hit.
Some of the British cooks I work with show me a lot about the English ways of cooking home comfort foods that they were brought up on!
This British lady baker made me this most scrumptious sticky toffee pudding at the Rim Rock Resort.
Lots of touring Brits and Scots, stayed at this hotel and I was taken aback by their love for this treat.
It was very tasty and sure hit all the right notes for a good dessert finish.
It took me a few trial and errors to perfect the right texture and following this recipe in metric made it tight.
To prepare you will need;175g medjool dates, stoned and roughly chopped [Available and very meaty]
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
300ml boiling water
50g unsalted butter, softened
80g golden caster sugar
80g dark muscovado sugar [also known as Barbados or Moist sugar]
2 eggs, beaten
175g flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of ground cloves
75g walnutsFor the sauce:
115g unsalted butter
75g golden caster sugar
40g dark muscovado sugar
140ml double cream
1. Pre-heat the oven to350 degrees. Butter a baking dish approximately 12 x 12 in.
2. Make the sauce by putting all the ingredients into a pan with a pinch of salt and heating slowly until the butter has melted, then turn up the heat and bring to the boil.
Boil for about 4 minutes, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Pour half the sauce into the base of the dish and then put it in the freezer while you make the rest of the pudding.
3. Put the dates and bicarbonate of soda in a heatproof dish and cover with the boiling water. Leave to soften while you prepare the rest of the pudding.
4. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, and then beat in the eggs, a little at a time. Stir in the flour, baking powder, cloves and a pinch of salt until well combined, and then add the dates and their soaking water, and the walnuts, and mix well.
5. Take the dish out of the freezer and pour the batter on top of the toffee sauce. Put into the oven for 30 minutes, until firm to the touch, and then take out of the oven.
6. Heat the grill to medium, and poke a few small holes evenly over the surface with a skewer or fork, and then pour over the rest of the sauce.
Put briefly under the grill, keeping an eye on it as it can easily burn.
Serve with vanilla ice or clotted cream.
Enjoy!
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