Sticky Toffee Pudding

Recipe from The Fickle Fig

Sticky toffee pudding is by far The Fickle Fig’s most popular holiday dessert, and for good reason. It is a classic English dessert of sponge cake made with chopped dates and bathed in sweet toffee sauce. Sticky toffee pudding truly epitomizes all things festive and gets the holiday season started; it is the perfect dessert to serve to friends and family over the holidays as it can be dressed up with vanilla gelato, fresh figs, berries, or served as-is for an easy and fuss-free treat.

This dessert is best served fresh from the oven; however, it will still be delicious the next day! For the best results when serving the next day, reheat the pudding in the oven until the sauce is bubbling and the cake is fully warmed through.

Bring on the cold weather and warm desserts!

Photography By Janis Jean | December 08, 2021

Instructions

For the pudding:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups chopped dates
Zest and juice of one orange
1 cup butter
1¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

For the sticky toffee sauce:

4 cups heavy cream
6 cups brown sugar
4 cups butter
1 tsp salt

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350℉.

Place dates, orange juice, and orange zest into a sauce pan. Add just enough water to cover the dates. Warm on medium heat until it becomes a "syrupy" consistency. Remove from heat and cool until the mixture is room temperature.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time while scraping the batter from the side into the bowl between additions. Add sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir gently, but do not over mix. Then add the cooled date syrup into the batter and stir until just incorporated.

Butter and flour the wells of a 12-cup muffin pan and add about 1¼ cups of batter into each cup. Bake at 350℉ for 20–25 minutes (or until a toothpick or cake tester can be removed without residue from the pudding).

To make the sauce, add all of the sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan. Warm over low to medium heat until the sauce comes to a simmer, stirring frequently.

Remove the warm puddings from the pan by running a small knife or spatula around the edge and place each onto your serving bowl or plate. Pour the hot toffee sauce over the entire pudding, until the sauce has pooled onto the serving dish.

Garnish as desired and serve immediately. (Tip: Try it with Fickle Fig’s house-made vanilla gelato, found at both their Mills Road location in North Saanich and their Beacon Avenue location in Sidney.)

Watch our video for a behind-the-scenes video on the making of Sticky Toffee Pudding!