Ingredients
- 340 grams pitted dates
- 2 teaspoons bicarb of soda
- water
- 120 grams butter
- 340 grams castor sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 340 grams self raising flour
Toffee Sauce
- 500 grams dark brown sugar
- 300 mL cream
- 250 grams butter
Instructions
- Roughly chop the dates and place them in a saucepan. Add enough water until it is just covering the dates. Bring the pan to a boil. Once at a boil, remove the pan from the heat and add in the bicarb of soda. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Mix together the butter and sugar until creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Add the vanilla essence.
- Sift the flour and then fold the flour and date mixture through the egg mixture, being careful not to overmix.
- Pour into a well greased bundt tin and bake for 50 mins at 170 °C
Toffee Sauce
- Place all ingredients in a pan over low heat. Heat until combined and then allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Drizzle over the top of slices of pudding to serve.
Sticky Date Pudding is one of those classic comfort foods that everyone just loves. Take a rich decadent pudding and slather it in a thick gooey toffee sauce and then served with a side of vanilla icecream. What more could you want! This version of sticky date pudding is virtually foolproof to make, and it’s a guaranteed people pleaser whenever its served up.
Preparing the Dates
Typically for this recipe you will use dried dates. They are typically found in the dried fruit section of the supermarket and are inexpensive to buy. Weigh out the required portion of dates and then use a sharp knife to roughly chop them into pieces. Place the dates in a saucepan and then add sufficient water so that the dates are just covered.
Place the pan over a medium heat and bring it to a boil. Once at a boil, remove the pan from the heat and add in the bicarb of soda. Set the pan to the side and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Note: This process is important as it helps to add moisture and soften the dates. The bicarb helps neutralize tannins released from the date, which creates a sweet more pronounced date flavor.
Preparing the Sticky Date Pudding
Mix together the butter and sugar until creamy. This is best done using some form of electric mixer. Following this add the eggs one at a time, beating the eggs into the butter mixture between each addition. Add in the vanilla essence and mix through. At this point you should have a lovely golden egg mixture that is fairly runny.
Sift the self-raising flour into a bowl and then combine it with the date and water mixture. Fold the flour mixture through the egg mixture until just combined. It’s important not to overmix the mixture here or you will create a much denser pudding mixture than what you want.
Take the pudding batter and pour it into a well greased bundt tin. Bake the pudding at 170 °C for about 50 minutes.
A bundt tin makes it easy to slice and serve afterwards, and also looks great with the toffee sauce drizzled on top. You can however use a 29cm spring-form tin instead to bake the cake in. You may need to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. If the centre is not fully cooked when removed from the oven it will collapse (not an issue when you use a bundt tin).
Preparing the Toffee Sauce
To create the toffee sauce place dark brown sugar, butter and cream into a large saucepan. Heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is combined. Allow to simmer for a futher 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
Tip: Cut the butter into small cubes to speed the cooking process. Large chunks of butter take additional time to melt into the sauce.
Serving the Sticky Date Pudding
The sticky date pudding is best served warm. Slice the pudding into pieces and portion out between bowls. Drizzle with a generous amount of toffee sauce and serve with vanilla icecream.
The sticky date can also be made ahead of time ready to serve latter. Reheat the pudding at 150 °C for 15 minutes and rewarm the toffee sauce in a saucepan for 5 minutes over a medium heat before serving.
You can also freeze individual portions in the freezer for an easy microwavable snack.
