Sticky Toffee Pudding

One of my all time favourite sweets, sticky toffee pudding is a rich, gooey, spongey delight and I have been so excited to try this out. With hints of cinnamon and vanilla, along with the rich sweetness from the dates, this recipe is my absolute favourite and is so, so easy! With it being such a rich dessert I find that this ratio easily feeds 10 people (so don't make the mistake I did and eat 4 portions all by yourself, I'm on the sugar crash from hell right now... but between you, and me it was so worth it)!

Ingredients

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla pod

175g chopped dates

1 tbsp black treacle

2 medium eggs

75g unsalted butter

150g soft light brown sugar

200g self raising flour

120ml whole milk

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the sauce (optional, but I think that this finishes this dish perfectly)

30ml brandy

250g soft light brown sugar

200ml double cream

100g unsalted butter

1 tbsp black treacle

Method

- Start by adding the chopped dates to a bowl and pouring over 175ml boiling water, leave them to soak for around 20 minutes. Then mash them up to form a thick puree (you can also do this in a food processor) - don't worry if you don't like dates, they really add depth to the dessert but they pretty much dissolve whilst baking, so you'd never know they were in there!

- Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/325F/Gas 4. Grease a 1.5 litre pudding tin/dish, I prefer to use an ovenproof ceramic or glass dish because it looks so lovely when you serve it up later!

- Mix the bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and the vanilla extract into the date pulp, then set to one side.

- In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar together, then sift in the flour. In a jug, beat the milk and eggs together and pour this into the bowl. Fold all of these ingredients together until smooth - don't over beat as this may cause it to collapse in on itself in the oven (I've made this mistake far too many times).

- Mix in the date mixture and the black treacle and stir until combined. Don’t worry if the consistency doesn’t look too appetising at the point, trust me it will taste amazing! Pour this into the prepared dish (it will be very runny and may look slightly curdled, this is perfect, don't be worried) and bake for around 45 mins, or until firm and well risen.

- Meanwhile, put all of the sauce ingredients into a pan over a low heat. Once the sugar has all dissolved turn the heat up, and stir continuously for a couple of minutes, or until you have a rich toffee sauce. Pour the sauce into a heatproof jug and set to the side.

- Remove the pudding from the oven and leave to cool slightly, I think it’s best to serve this pudding fresh while it’s still warm. But you could enjoy it cold, or heat it up when you’re ready to serve it along with the delicious brandy, toffee sauce*.

*An alternative way to finish off this dish is, rather than serving the sauce on the side, using a sharp fork or skewer, make a few holes in the top of the pudding. Pour over the sauce so that it oozes into the holes, it’s best to do this while the pudding is still warm. Then serve hot with some delicious vanilla ice cream on top!

Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts on this recipe.