Keeping Chickens

Sticky toffee pudding is one of John’s favourite desserts and when I found out I kept an eye out for a recipe for ages. I eventually came across this one and it is a real winner. The sponge is light and fluffy and the sauce is rich but not sickly sweet. It is simple to make and can be made ahead then warmed in the Microwave when needed. It is good to store for a few days in a tin, if it lasts that long.

Link to measurement conversion chart

Makes enough for 12 - 16 portions

Ingredients

• Sponge
  • 150g Ready to eat Dates, roughly chopped
  • 150g Caster sugar
  • 150g Self raising flour
  • 2 Eggs
  • 50g butter
  • 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
  • 300ml water
• Sauce
  • 300ml Double cream
  • 50g Demerara sugar
  • 2 tbsp Black treacle

You will also need;

• a 23cm deep square baking tray
• 2 saucepans
• a mixing bowl
• a hand or electric whisk 

Method

1. Make the sponge
   1. Preheat the oven to 160c, grease and line the baking tray
   2. Put the dates in a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil
   3. Remove from the heat then stir in the Bicarbonate of soda. Leave to one side to cool
   4. Put the remaining sponge ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric whisk until well mixed
   5. Add the date mixture and beat again. You should have a runny batter consistency
   6. Pour into the baking tray and bake for 30 – 35 mins until the cake has set and has a spongy texture, allow extra time if necessary
2. Make the sauce
   1. Gently heat all the sauce ingredients in a pan.
   2. Increase the heat to bring to the boil
   3. Simmer, stirring until the sugar has melted
   4. Pour into a serving jug

Serving suggestions

• Best served with the warm sauce poured over the sponge and some cream, ice cream or custard on the side.
• Sponge stores well in an airtight container for several days. The sauce should be refrigerated
• For a sweeter sauce substitute golden syrup for the treacle
• If you want to impress cut the sponge with a round cutter then serve dusted with icing sugar with the sauce on the side in a jug.

Acknowledgements

This recipe was copied down from somewhere onto a scrap of paper which has lived in my folder of recipes for ever. I have made it several times and as with many of my scraps of paper it is now tatty and covered in ingredients. The recipe originator has been forgotten but the recipe lives on and the pudding is delicious!

If you have enjoyed this recipe, you might also like to try some of these from our collection:

• Sticky Toffee Pudding is a renowned comfort food, have a go at Eggy Scrumble for comforting light snack that's quick to assemble
• Something else high on the comfort food list is a Cottage Pie and this reccipe has a cheets secret ingredient to help you along
• A simple Garlic Bread recipe is a handy thing to have in your back pocket, give this one a go and melt some cheese on top if you want to make it extra special

We hope you have enjoyed these recipes

Happy eating!