Sticky Toffee Pudding
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Americans hear the word pudding and picture something in a little plastic cup. Not this. Think a dark, date sweetened sponge, still warm from the oven, with toffee sauce poured over until it soaks all the way down into the middle. Sticky Toffee Pudding is a cake, and I’d like a word with whoever named it. Warm, sticky, and made almost entirely from things you already have.
What Is Sticky Toffee Pudding?
I order this every single time I see it on a menu. Every time. I’ve stopped pretending I’m going to look at the rest of the dessert list.
That’s partly a personal failing and partly geography, because out here sticky toffee pudding turns up on practically every restaurant menu. So I’ve eaten a lot of versions of it, and I have opinions.
Now, the name, which is doing nobody any favors.
Sticky toffee pudding is a cake. In Britain, pudding is the catchall word for dessert. Where we’d ask what’s for dessert, they’d ask what’s for pudding. There is nothing custard adjacent happening here at all.
What it actually is: a dark, soft, almost fudgy sponge made with dates, drenched while it’s still warm in toffee sauce. The dates get simmered and blended into a smooth paste first, so there’s no fruit to bite into and nobody suspicious of dates has ever noticed them in mine. They’re in there for moisture and for a deep caramel sweetness that makes the cake taste like it has 3 times more butter than it does.
In Australia the identical dessert is called sticky date pudding, which is a far more useful name, and I’m a little annoyed they thought of it first. It also isn’t ancient, despite feeling like it should be. The version everyone makes is usually traced to the Lake District in England in the 1970s, though a couple of places claim it. Either way it’s younger than disco.
Ingredients in Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Pitted dates (1 cup): Medjool if you have them, any pitted date if you don’t. They get simmered and blended into a paste, so nobody will ever know. And if you’re currently thinking you don’t like dates, I’d like 5 minutes of your time.
- Water (1 cup): For simmering the dates soft.
- Unsalted butter (4 tablespoons for the cake, 8 tablespoons for the sauce): That’s a stick and a half between them. It’s dessert, we’re fine.
- Brown sugar (¾ cup for the cake, ½ cup for the sauce): Packed, both times.
- Eggs (2): Room temperature if you remember, which I usually don’t.
- Golden syrup (2 tablespoons for the cake, ¼ cup for the sauce): There’s a whole section on this below, because it’s the only thing on this list you might have to go hunting for.
- Molasses (¼ cup for the cake, ½ cup for the sauce): This is the part that makes mine different from everyone else’s. Most toffee sauces are butter, brown sugar and cream, full stop. I like a dark sauce, so there’s molasses in the cake and more of it in the sauce, and it takes the whole thing somewhere deeper with a little bitterness underneath all that sugar.
- All purpose flour (1½ cups): Spoon it into the cup and level it off.
- Baking soda (2 teaspoons) and baking powder (1½ teaspoons): Both, and more soda than you’d expect to see. All that molasses is acidic, so there’s plenty for the soda to react with.
- Salt (½ teaspoon): Keeps the sweetness in check.
- Heavy whipping cream (¾ cup): For the sauce, and it’s what turns a syrup into a sauce.
- Optional toppings: Whipped cream, ice cream, or chopped walnuts or pecans. Ice cream is my vote, because warm cake plus cold ice cream is one of life’s genuinely great combinations.
What Is Golden Syrup, And What Can I Use Instead?
Golden syrup is a British pantry staple and it’s the ingredient that’s most likely going to send you around a grocery store twice.
It’s a thick amber syrup made from cane sugar, sitting somewhere between corn syrup and honey, with a soft buttery caramel flavor of its own. Lyle’s is the brand everybody knows, in the green and gold tin. In North America it usually lives in the British or international aisle, or near the baking syrups.
If you can’t find it, here’s what works:
- Light corn syrup is the closest match for texture and the most neutral swap. It brings no caramel flavor of its own, so your sauce will be slightly less complex, but it behaves exactly the same.
- Honey is what I’d reach for second. It does carry its own flavor, so you’ll taste a little honey in the finished sauce, which plenty of people actively prefer.
- Maple syrup will do at a push, though it’s thinner and more assertive than either.
One small note if you’re cooking for vegans: golden syrup is plant based, which is why it often turns up as a honey substitute.
How To Make Sticky Toffee Pudding
Get The Pan Ready: Oven to 350°F and an 8×8 inch square pan greased with cooking spray. Do this before you start, because once the dates are blended you’ll want to keep moving.
Soften The Dates: Simmer the dates and water together in a medium saucepan until the dates go soft and collapse. Let them cool for about a minute, then blend until completely smooth.
You’re after a thick, dark paste with no lumps in it. A food processor, a blender or an immersion blender all do this happily. A smooth paste is what makes the cake moist, so I’d keep blending past the point where it looks close enough.
Mix The Wet Ingredients: Whisk the melted butter and brown sugar together, then add the eggs and whisk until it looks light and a little fluffy. Mix in the golden syrup, the molasses and that date paste.
It will look alarmingly dark at this point. That’s exactly right.
Add The Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl first, so the leavening is evenly spread before it meets anything wet.
Add half of it to the wet mixture and whisk, then add the rest and mix until it’s smooth. A hand mixer or a stand mixer is fine here if you’d rather not whisk.
Bake: Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
A note on checking it, since this cake is dark going in and dark coming out: you can’t judge it by color at all. Go by the toothpick and by the center springing back when you press it gently.
Make The Toffee Sauce: While the cake is in the oven, melt the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and molasses together in a medium saucepan until everything is combined, then whisk in the whipping cream.
It will look thin in the pan. It thickens as it cools, so there’s nothing to fix.
Sauce It Warm: While the cake is still warm, turn it out of the pan and cut it into 9 squares. Pour the sauce over the top and add whatever toppings you like.
Warm cake drinks the sauce in. A cold one lets it sit on the surface, which still tastes good but misses the entire point of the word sticky.
The Toffee Sauce
The sauce is half the reason to make this, and mine is darker than most.
A standard toffee sauce is butter, brown sugar and cream. Perfectly lovely. Mine adds golden syrup and a proper amount of molasses, which takes it from caramel colored to nearly black, with a bitter edge running underneath all that sugar that keeps it from being cloying.
It’s very close kin to butterscotch sauce, which is also butter and brown sugar. The difference between the two comes down to tradition and how dark you take it.
- Poke holes in the cake first if you want it fully saturated. A skewer or a fork, all over the top, and the sauce runs straight down into the middle instead of pooling.
- It keeps on its own for about 4 days in the fridge, and it’s excellent on ice cream, over bread pudding, or spooned into coffee.
- I always make extra. I’ve never once regretted it.
Make Ahead and Storage
Room temperature: 5 to 6 days in an airtight container, cake and sauce stored separately so the cake doesn’t go soggy.
Fridge: The sauce keeps about 4 days. Warm it gently before using, since it sets firm when cold.
Freezer: Up to 3 months. Wrap the cake well in plastic and then foil. Thaw at room temperature.
Reheating: Cover the cake and warm it in a low oven, around 300°F, for about 15 minutes. Individual squares do nicely in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. Either way, warm the sauce separately and pour it over after.
Making it ahead for company: Bake the cake the day before and make the sauce the day before too. On the day, warm both and assemble. The cake is arguably better on day 2, once everything has settled.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake
- Rum Baba
- The Best Tiramisu
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake
- Date Squares
- Sticky Buns
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Sticky Toffee Pudding
Video
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1 cup water
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)
- ¾ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoon golden syrup
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Sauce
- 8 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
- ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
- ¼ cup golden syrup
- ½ cup molasses
- ¾ cup whipping cream
Optional Toppings
- whipped cream
- ice cream
- chopped walnuts or pecans
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8×8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
- Simmer 1 cup pitted dates and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan until they soften. Let them cool about a minute, then blend until smooth.
- Whisk 4 tablespoons melted butter with ¾ cup brown sugar, add 2 eggs and whisk until light, then mix in 2 tablespoons golden syrup, ¼ cup molasses and the date mixture.
- In a separate bowl, combine 1½ cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Add half the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk, then add the rest and mix well. A hand or stand mixer can be used.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, melt 8 tablespoons butter, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup golden syrup and ½ cup molasses in a medium saucepan until fully combined, then whisk in ¾ cup whipping cream.
- While the cake is still warm, remove it from the pan and cut it into 9 squares. Pour the sauce over the top and serve with optional toppings.
Equipment
Notes
- Blend the dates completely smooth. Lumps of date left in the batter make the cake dense in patches.
- Golden syrup substitutes: light corn syrup is the closest match, honey works and adds its own flavor, maple syrup will do at a push.
- Poke holes in the warm cake with a skewer before saucing it if you want it fully saturated.
- The sauce looks thin in the pan and thickens as it cools. That’s normal.
- Sauce the cake while it’s warm. Warm cake absorbs it, cold cake doesn’t.
- You can’t judge doneness by color on a cake this dark. Use a toothpick and look for the center to spring back.
- Also works in a Bundt pan, ramekins or a muffin tin. Smaller portions bake faster, so start checking at 18 to 20 minutes.
- Storage: 5 to 6 days in an airtight container, up to 3 months frozen. The sauce keeps 4 days in the fridge. Reheat the cake covered in a low oven, around 300°F, for about 15 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Will it taste like dates?
No, and I say that as someone who gets asked constantly. The dates are simmered and blended into a smooth paste before anything else happens, so there’s nothing to bite into. What they contribute is moisture and a deep caramel sweetness, not fruitiness.
Is sticky toffee pudding the same as sticky date pudding?
Same dessert, different continent. Australians call it sticky date pudding, which describes it rather better than the British name does.
Can I bake it in something other than an 8×8 pan?
Yes. A Bundt pan works, and so do ramekins or a muffin tin for individual portions. Smaller portions bake faster, so start checking at around 18 to 20 minutes.
My cake came out dense. What happened?
Usually the date paste wasn’t blended smooth enough, which leaves heavy pockets through the batter. Overmixing once the flour goes in will do it too. Mix until it’s just combined and then stop.
Can I make it less sweet?
You can cut the brown sugar in the sauce back a little. I wouldn’t touch the molasses, since that’s where the depth comes from and it’s the least sweet thing in there.
What do I serve it with?
Vanilla ice cream, and I’d argue the temperature contrast is doing as much work as the flavor. Whipped cream or custard are both traditional, and chopped walnuts or pecans give you something crunchy against all that softness.
Can I double it?
Yes, in a 9×13 pan. Add about 10 minutes to the bake and check with a toothpick.
