Many years ago I was motorbiking in torrential rain along the Great Ocean Road in New South Wales. Cold, soaking-wet and ravenous, I pulled up at a little café for some much needed refreshment (preferably with custard) and was recommended the sticky toffee pudding by the lovely waitress. So good was the dessert, with its fluffy yet rich sponge and dark sticky sauce that I managed to wangle the recipe from the chef, put it on my travel website and thought no more about it. Fast forward a few years and the phone rang, with a TV researcher asking if I would like to make my version on a new cookery programme called Britain’s Best Dish. Lucky enough to reach as far the finals, I won Best Pudding in The South (and the prize money paid for a new boiler!). Since then I have tweaked it a tiny bit, removing a tablespoon of golden syrup from the sauce so it isn’t quite so tooth-achingly sweet; a little mixed spice adds a lovely wintery touch if you feel so inclined, and though I think the ginger adds welcome warmth, please feel free to leave it out!
Many thank to Metro Newspaper for featuring it in an article about the nation’s favourite cake 🙂
For the pudding (serves 12)
225g chopped pitted dates
200g soft dark brown sugar
175g self-raising flour
85g butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
For the caramel sauce
100g soft dark brown sugar
75g butter
200ml thick double cream
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a 23cm square tin with greaseproof paper.
- Bring the dates to the boil with 200ml of water then take the pan off the heat.
- Leave the pan to stand for five minutes then give the fruit a quick squash with a potato masher or the back of a spoon.
- Add the bicarbonate of soda and ginger and mix well.
- While the dates are soaking, cream the butter and sugar together before beating in the eggs, adding the flour spoonful by spoonful until thoroughly combined. Add the date mixture (and a spoonful of mixed spice if you like) and stir once more until the batter is smooth.
- Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes until a skewer poked in comes out clean; cover the sponge with tin foil for the last couple of minutes if you find the top is browning too quickly.
- To make the sauce, add the butter, sugar and cream to a large pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. When you can no longer feel the sugar granules with your spoon, turn the heat up a fraction and gently simmer for three minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Brush a little sauce over the top and sides of the pudding to make a sticky glaze, then cut into slices. Serve with an extra helping of sauce poured over each slice, along with a good dollop of cream, custard or ice cream.
