Sticky Toffee Pudding

I find it so satisfying when I can add another British recipe to my repertoire!  British food is so hard to come by around here (obviously, since we're not in Great Britain), so I'm always having to learn to make my favorites from scratch.  Sometimes they turn out, sometimes they don't.  You can thank the metric system and hard-to-find British baking staples for that.

Fortunately - this is one of the recipes that turned out even better that I thought it would!  Its a warm date cake (aka "pudding")*, broiled with toffee sauce, and then topped with ice cream and more toffee sauce.  Heaven in a bowl, and one of my all-time favorite desserts.  One of our New Year's resolutions is to eat only one sweet a day, and this pan of goodness has been calling our names every minute of every day - its so hard to only have one serving!

 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients:

For the cake -

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup pitted dates
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the toffee sauce -

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. 
2. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper; set aside. 
3. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside.
4. In a bowl or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very runny.  
5. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack, and begin making the toffee sauce. 
6. Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. 
7. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the cake. Spread evenly on top. Place cake under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. 
8. Serve immediately (hot), spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream or ice cream.

Note:  I'm not a big fan of any desserts that have dried fruit/raisins in them - I just don't like the texture.  As such, I didn't think I'd like this cake at all.  Fortunately, the dates soften with the boiling water and then dissolve while baking!  Don't omit the dates - they add so much to the flavor of the cake.