English Sticky Toffee Pudding

Mmmmm . . . 

Looking for a rich, sweet, truly decadent desert?

You have to try this recipe.  

It's amazing.

The first time I had this fabulous treat was at the Swiss Woods Inn B&B in Lititz, Pennsylvania, where me and a group of girlfriends have had a winter retreat weekend once a year for the past six years.  I've talked about our great times there in several past posts.

It's really a very simple recipe, and it requires pretty basic ingredients.  The only ingredient I had to purchase that I don't normally stock in my pantry were seeded dates.  

The recipe also calls for heavy cream, which I don't usually keep in the frig.   I do always have either light cream or half and half, which may alter the end product a bit, I guess, but I didn't really see a difference in using half and half.

As you can see, my photos of the "pudding" {which is really more wet-cake, bread pudding then a traditional pudding}  aren't of the best quality, so I found some snaps of the pudding at different sites so you could see just how moist and delicious this desert can be.  It's not necessarily a pretty desert, but boy is it yummy!  It's one of those deserts where you can't help "mmmmm'ing" while you're eating it!

Browned Eyed Baker

Taste of Home

The Guardian UK

Three Many Cooks

Yumsugar

As you can see by the sample pics I posted, I didn't make up whipped cream for my pudding.  As I mentioned, I only had half and half in the house, and that doesn't whip up nicely for whipped cream.  Besides, I figured as rich and decadent as this desert is, we could all do without the extra fat and calories.  I have had it with the whipped cream at the Inn, and needless to say, it's totally divine!

I can't imagine any disappointments with this desert.  

Give it a try!

The Pudding:

1 cup plus 1 tbsp AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup pitted dates
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla

The Toffee Sauce:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

{When I made my toffee sauce, I had only half and half.  To up the fat content to make a rich toffee sauce, I added a few more tbsp of butter.}

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 10" round or square baking dish.  Sift the flour and baking powder.  Chop dates fine.  Place in a small bowl and add boiling water and baking soda; set aside.  With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla beating until blended. Gradually add flour mixture.  Add the date mixture to the batter and fold with a rubber spatula until blended.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes.  Remove from oven to wire rack.

Make the toffee sauce by combining all ingredients in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil gently over med-low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes.

Preheat broiler.  Spoon about 1/3 cup of the toffee sauce over the pudding.  Spread evenly on top.  Place pudding under the broiler until the topping bubbly, about 1 minute.  Serve immediately drizzled with extra toffee sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.

FYI  This pudding is just as yummy cold! ;o)

Thanks for visiting! 

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