Sticky Toffee Pudding with Orange & Sea Salt; a dreamily warm and cosy date pudding slathered in dark sticky toffee sauce and sprinkled with flaky salt.
Is there a dessert more iconic than sticky toffee pudding in the depths of a British winter?
You could try and put forward the flaming boozy pudding on Christmas Day, the thrown-together family trifle recipe, or the unavoidable shortbread tin seen every New Year. However, I won’t be accepting any of them while the STP exists.
It’s cosy, it’s rich, it’s hearty, it’s sweet, it’s everything a dessert should be in the last few months of the year. There’s nothing delicate about it, nothing fiddly, and nothing over-the top. She is exactly what she needs to be and she knows it.
Soft and fluffy cake, scented and sweetened with seasonal dates, served still steaming hot. Dark and sticky toffee sauce, sweet and warm, poured over with reckless abandon.
At this time of year you’ll see it on wedding menus, Christmas event menus, New Year party menus, and everything in between. It’s a dessert as rewarding as it is simple.
Above all, it’s one so tasty (despite its distinctly monotone and unassuming appearance) that I’ve even managed to convince the chef in the Venice restaurant I work in to have it as one of our winter dessert options. As pastry cook, I had to help with ideas for the festive sweet treats, and decided to gamble by offering up one of my festive favourites. Though the description and initial visual impact had him raising an eyebrow, after tasting it, he officially added this British classic onto our lovely modern Italian menu.
In all this, I’m not tooting my own horn, I’m tooting this sticky toffee pudding’s horn.
This is a recipe you can enjoy fresh from the oven, or one you can prepare in advance, reheating portions in the oven or microwave before serving. As long as it and its sauce are warm, you’re good to go.
While it draws inspiration from a more typical sticky toffee pudding recipe, this one has some tweaks to add flavour and texture. Chopped walnuts stirred through the cake mix before baking adds balance and crunch. Grated fragrant orange zest lifts the sauce to a new level, while rounding out the sometimes too-much sweetness. A pinch of flaky sea salt marries all the elements together, and gives it a real sophisticated flavour in the mouth. Of course, if you’d prefer the more traditional number, feel free to leave these 3 elements out, and you’ll still have a banger!
I’m enjoying this one regularly thanks to my job, and a couple of tests for this particular post. You could make this one at home for a Sunday afternoon treat, or as dessert for a festive dinner party, or as a delicious present for a loved one. However you have it, I hope you can enjoy it in all its dark and sticky glory. Remember to get it nice and warm before serving, but please be careful not to burn yourself on that sauce as it can get hot very fast!
To make this sticky toffee pudding, simply follow the recipe below:
Ingredients
For the sticky toffee cake:
- 200g (7 oz) dates
- 200ml (¾ cup) water, just boiled
- 50g (3 tbsp) salted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 150g (⅔ cup) muscovado sugar
- 200g (1 ⅔ cups) self-raising flour (or plain flour with ½ tsp baking powder and ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda)
- 50g (½ cup) walnuts, chopped or broken into small pieces (optional)
- Pinch of sea salt
For the sticky toffee sauce:
- 180ml (¾ cup) double cream
- 160g (⅔ cup) muscovado sugar
- 150g (10 tbsp) salted butter
- Zest of 1 orange
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
For the sticky toffee cake:
- Chop your dates into small pieces, removing any stones and pips as you go.
- Place them into a medium-sized bowl and pour over the boiled water.
- Allow them to steep and soften for 15-20 minutes, letting the water cool in the meantime.
- Once soaked, mash up the fruit with a fork or potato-masher. You can also blitz them completely with an immersion blender if you’d prefer a smoother texture to your cake. Set aside the mixture to cool a bit more as you prepare the rest of the cake.
- Preheat your oven – 190 C / 170 C fan / 375 F / gas mark 5.
- Grease and line a 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 in) square cake tin.
- In a large bowl, beat together your soft butter and sugar for a minute or so, until sandy and combined.
- Whisk or beat your eggs in one at a time until the mixture is smooth and lighter in colour, this should take a couple of minutes.
- Add the date mixture, whisking thoroughly to incorporate.
- Tip in the flour, walnuts (if using), and salt and gently whisk in until JUST combined into a smooth cake batter. (Over-mixing can make your cake come out tough or chewy, and no one wants that!)
- Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and smooth over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. By this time the cake should be risen and springy to the touch.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, you can make your sauce.
For the sticky toffee sauce:
- Get all your ingredients into a saucepan or deep frying pan and place it over a medium heat.
- Allow everything to melt together, stirring gently.
- Once all melted and darker in colour, allow to bubble and thicken slightly for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Allow to cool slightly.
- Slice or spoon up your still-warm cake, pouring over a generous drizzle of hot toffee sauce and serving with an extra sprinkle of salt (if you like).
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not swap the walnuts for pecans or hazelnuts for extra flavour?
This sticky toffee cake will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, and the sticky toffee sauce for up to a week in the fridge. Remember to reheat before serving, being careful with that sauce once it’s hot!
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