Miss Confection

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🇬🇧 Cartmel, United Kingdom Kid-friendly

Sticky Toffee Pudding

A tender date sponge soaked in warm, glossy toffee sauce, Britain's cosiest pudding

Prep
20 min
Cook
35 min
Total
1 hr 15 min
Yield
One 8-inch square pudding (9 servings)
Level
Easy
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The story

Sticky toffee pudding is a British classic, but it is younger than many people think. Its best-known origin story starts in the Lake District in the 1970s, when Francis Coulson, the chef-owner of the Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel on the shores of Ullswater, put a date sponge with toffee sauce on his menu. Coulson credited the recipe to a friend, Patricia Martin, who is said to have got it from Canadian air force officers staying with her during the Second World War. Others, including a hotel in Aberdeenshire, have made their own claims.

The village of Cartmel, at the southern edge of the Lake District, made the pudding famous across Britain. In the late 1980s the Cartmel Village Shop began baking and selling it, and the puddings became so popular that they were shipped all over the country. Today sticky toffee pudding is a favourite on pub menus across the United Kingdom.

The dates soften in boiling water with baking soda and melt into the cake, making it very moist without tasting fruity. The toffee sauce is just butter, dark brown sugar and cream. Poke holes in the warm sponge and pour some sauce over it so it soaks in. It is easy enough to make with kids.

Tips for success

  • Medjool dates make the softest, richest pudding, but any soft pitted dates will work.
  • For individual puddings, bake in 9 buttered muffin cups for 18 to 22 minutes.
  • You can make the pudding and sauce up to 2 days ahead. Rewarm the pudding covered in a low oven with some sauce poured over.
  • The sauce keeps in the fridge for a week and is wonderful over ice cream.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

A classic British sticky toffee pudding recipe: a moist, tender date sponge drenched in rich, homemade toffee sauce. Serve warm with cream, custard or vanilla ice cream.

Prep
20 min
Cook
35 min
Total
1 hr 15 min
Yield
One 8-inch square pudding (9 servings)
Calories
~560/serving

Ingredients

For the pudding

For the toffee sauce

To serve

Instructions

Soak the dates

  1. Put the chopped dates in a bowl, pour over the boiling water and stir in the baking soda. It will foam. Let it stand for 15 minutes.

Make the batter

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan.
  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
  3. Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
  4. Fold in the flour mixture on low until just combined. Stir in the dates and their soaking liquid. The batter will be quite loose.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until risen and springy and a skewer in the center comes out clean.

Make the toffee sauce

  1. While the pudding bakes, melt the butter, brown sugar, half the cream, the treacle and salt in a saucepan, stirring until smooth.
  2. Simmer for 3 minutes until slightly darker and thickened. Take it off the heat and stir in the rest of the cream.

Soak and serve

  1. When the pudding comes out of the oven, poke it all over with a skewer and pour about a third of the sauce over it. Let it soak in for 10 minutes.
  2. Cut into squares and serve warm, with the rest of the sauce poured over and a spoonful of cream, custard or ice cream.

Tools we use

Recipe from Miss Confection · https://missconfection.com/recipe/sticky-toffee-pudding

Questions, answered

Can you taste the dates in sticky toffee pudding?

Not really. The dates soften and melt into the sponge, making it moist and caramel-like rather than noticeably fruity.

Can sticky toffee pudding be made ahead?

Yes. Bake the pudding and make the sauce up to 2 days ahead, then rewarm the pudding covered in a low oven with some sauce poured over.

Can you freeze sticky toffee pudding?

Yes. Freeze the cooled pudding and the sauce separately for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and rewarm before serving.

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