British Puddings – What Jessica Baked Next

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding is a classic British dessert consisting of date sponge served with a sweet toffee sauce. Pudding doesn't get much better than this!

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Total Time 50

Servings 9

Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

Date Sponge:

280 g pitted dates roughly chopped
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250 ml boiling water
40 g dark or light brown sugar
80 g (salted or unsalted) butter softened
2 eggs
185 g plain flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Toffee Sauce:

200 g dark or light brown sugar
300 ml double cream
70 g (salted or unsalted) butter I recommend adding a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 20cm / 8-inch square cake tin with parchment paper and set aside. Place the chopped dates in a bowl and sprinkle over bicarbonate of soda. Pour over boiling water. Stand 10 minutes, then mash well with a potato masher (or fork).
Place the softened butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat until combined and smooth. Now, add the eggs and beat until incorporated. Add flour along with the baking. Mix until flour is fully incorporated.
Add the date mixture, mix quickly until dates are well incorporated into the batter. Pour the cake batter in the lined tin. Bake for 35 minutes or until a cake tester when inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Now make the toffee sauce ready for serving the cake. To make the toffee sauce, place the sugar, cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is melted, stir, then bring to simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.
Once the cake is baked, take a cake skewer and poke holes over the top of the cake - about 40 will do. Take about 1/2 cup (120ml) of the sauce and pour this over the top of the cake. Leave it to stand and soak in the sauce for 10 minutes.
When ready to eat, take a piece of the sticky toffee pudding, pour over more of the remaining sauce, and serve with custard, ice cream or pouring cream.

I’ve always LOVED sticky toffee pudding, but I wanted to give this classic recipe a twist. So I decided to make a cupcake, perfect for a afternoon tea. This recipe is everything quintessentially British, it’s sweet, sticky and scrumptious. If you’ve never tried it before, then you’re seriously missing out!

This recipe came about because last weekend I received a lovely email from Denby regarding a competition called the ‘Cake-Off‘. If you didn’t know already, Denby is an English pottery company, they create the most beautiful and mesmerising bowls, plates and different crockery that is high-quality and simply stunning. The Cake Off is to celebrate the current series of the GBBO (Great British Bake Off), which is airing in the UK at the moment. So when I read the email, asking me to take part, I jumped at the chance! So here is my bake, which I hope you will all love!

These cupcakes are fun, sweet and look super cute! They’re are just as good as the classic and are perfectly moist, molasses-y, sweet and melt in the mouth good. I’ve also created a toffee buttercream, which again is totally addictive, I could easily eat it by the spoonful…

The recipe would be perfect for any afternoon tea spread, I love to decorate with fudge cubes and even more sauce! The sauce compliments the sponge and adds a little bit extra indulgence!

Ingredients- (Makes 12 Cupcakes)

150g of pitted dates

70g of unsalted butter, softened

150g of light brown sugar

2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

150g of self-raising flour, sifted

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

Toffee Sauce-

115g of unsalted butter, cubed

115g of light brown sugar

140ml of double cream

Toffee Buttercream-

100g of unsalted butter, soft

150g of icing sugar, sifted

4-5 tbsp of homemade toffee sauce or readymade dulce de leche (caramel)

Method-

1. To make the cupcakes: Soak the dates in 150ml of boiling water for 20 minutes. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together for 5 minutes, until really light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one by one and mix on a low speed until just combined. Then add the flour and mix until there no are lumps of flour left and the cake mixture is smooth. Break up the dates in the water and add all the date liquid/mixture to the batter.

2. Scoop evenly into 12 cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees C Fan until nice and golden and make sure a cake tester comes out completely clean. Once cooked, cool in the tin for a few minutes, then carefully remove and cool fully on wire rack.

3. For the toffee sauce: Make the toffee sauce by placing the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan, heat gently and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Then carefully pour into a bowl and place into the fridge until needed (chill for at least an hour before making the buttercream.)

4. For the buttercream: In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the icing sugar with the softened butter for 5 minutes or until really pale and fluffy. Then on a low speed add your desired amount of toffee sauce- don’t add too much as you don’t want the icing to be too runny. Fill a piping bag fitted with your favourite nozzle (I used a small open star-tip) and pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes.

Finish with chopped walnuts or fudge pieces and make sure you serve each cupcake with extra sauce!