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Close-up of sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and glossy toffee sauce flowing down the cake’s sides.
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4.61 from 48 votes

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe is a dark, soft date cake drenched in a molasses heavy toffee sauce while it’s still warm. Not a pudding at all, despite the name, and the sauce is deliberately darker than most.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Keyword: british cakes, cake recipes, sticky toffee pudding
Servings: 9
Calories: 581kcal
Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

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

Optional Toppings

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8 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.
    Softening whole dates in water in a saucepan, then blending them into a thick paste in a food processor.
  • 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.
    Pouring dark molasses into the wet cake ingredients, then blending everything together with an electric hand mixer.
  • 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.
    Mixing flour into the wet ingredients with an electric hand mixer to make smooth sticky toffee pudding batter.
  • Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    Sticky toffee pudding batter spread into a square baking pan, alongside the baked cake with its browned top.
  • 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.
    Adding molasses to butter and brown sugar, then stirring cream into the dark toffee sauce in a saucepan.
  • 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.
    Cut date cake showing its soft crumb, alongside a plated square topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Video

Notes

  1. Blend the dates completely smooth. Lumps of date left in the batter make the cake dense in patches.
  2. Golden syrup substitutes: light corn syrup is the closest match, honey works and adds its own flavor, maple syrup will do at a push.
  3. Poke holes in the warm cake with a skewer before saucing it if you want it fully saturated.
  4. The sauce looks thin in the pan and thickens as it cools. That’s normal.
  5. Sauce the cake while it’s warm. Warm cake absorbs it, cold cake doesn’t.
  6. You can’t judge doneness by color on a cake this dark. Use a toothpick and look for the center to spring back.
  7. Also works in a Bundt pan, ramekins or a muffin tin. Smaller portions bake faster, so start checking at 18 to 20 minutes.
  8. 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

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 581kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 415mg | Potassium: 684mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 73g | Vitamin A: 812IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 145mg | Iron: 3mg
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