Ingredients
Serves 9
Prep: 15 mins
Bake: 40-45 mins
- 200g dates, chopped
- 300ml water
- 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
- 50g butter, softened
- 175g dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 tbsp black treacle
- 2 large eggs
- 200g self-raising flour
Toffee Sauce:
- 100g dark soft sugar
- 100g butter
- 200ml double cream
Vanilla Cream
- 150g mascarpone
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 125ml double cream
- 1 tsp icing sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 160 °C fan.
- Line an 8-inch square baking tin with parchment and set aside.
- Place the chopped dates and water in a saucepan; bring to a gentle simmer for 3–4 minutes until softened, then mash to a purée.
- Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until combined.
- Add the golden syrup and treacle; mix to combine.
- Gradually add the eggs, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the flour and mix until just combined, then fold in the date purée.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40–45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce: melt the butter and sugar together in a saucepan, add the cream, bring to the boil, and simmer for 2 minutes until thickened.
- When the pudding is baked, remove from the oven and use a skewer to poke lots of holes over the top.
- Pour half of the warm toffee sauce over the hot pudding and allow it to soak in.
- Make the vanilla cream by whisking the ingredients together until you have a stiff cream.
- Serve the sticky toffee pudding with the remaining sauce and the vanilla cream on the side.
Top Tips
- Don't overmix the batter; fold in dry ingredients gently. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the pudding very heavy
- A tablespoon of black treacle in the batter adds molasses depth without making it bitter.
