Sticky Toffee Pudding!
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Gorgeous, rich and delightful homemade sticky toffee pudding with homemade sticky toffee sauce and served with ice cream!
Sticky toffee pudding
I realise it’s now the end of October, but as the weather is cold and cosy I wanted to post a warming pudding that is going to satisfy my sweet cravings, and is utterly scrumptious and delicious. That basically only calls for one thing… sticky toffee pudding.
For this, think sweet, but not teeth achingly sweet. It’s warm, it’s cosy and it’s heaven in every singly morsel. One major thing I must say about this recipe though? You will want more than one bowlful. I will be honest and say that sticky toffee pudding is my favourite pudding in the world, so I am so excited to post this recipe.
Classic puddings
I feel like this is one of those puddings that is on nearly every single pub menu, and you can get pretty much all year, even when its the peak of summer, and I am not mad about it. It’s a classic, that you can’t beat. However, making it at home means it’s cheaper, and you get more for your money. You can add more sauce, or less sauce, or whatever you really fancy. It is EPIC.
I often find with desserts that I buy when I am out at a pub or a restaurant, that there is never enough sauce. I might actually just be that person who loves an obscene amount of sauce, but hey ho… I love it. I might be mad for that, but I know I am not alone. There is something wonderful about having the warm pudding, the warm sauce, and the ice cold ice cream. Or even just a drizzle of double cream, or anything!
The pudding
There are so many recipes for sticky toffee pudding out there that I kind of merged a few together and then also what I had in the fridge/cupboard and what I found worked best! However, dates MUST be used, in my opinion.
Obviously though, dates aren’t to everyones tastes so you can leave them out, up the milk to 250ml, and add in 25g more treacle, but it won’t be quite as good. My sticky toffee cake recipe is super popular, but that definitely requires the dates.
- Butter – the butter for the pudding can be a block butter, or baking spread
- Sugar – I prefer to use dark brown soft sugar for a proper sticky toffee flavour, but light brown sugar works well as well
- Flour – I use self raising flour when making this pudding
- Raising agents – A little bit of baking powder and bicarb
- Treacle – black treacle is important again for the proper sticky toffee flavour, but can be substituted for golden syrup
- Eggs – I use medium eggs in my baking, but two large would work well for this
- Milk – I always use full-fat whole milk in my bakes for best results
The sauce
The sauce is arguably one of the most important bits right as I said above?! I just can’t get enough of it, and I want it slathered all over the pudding as well as poured on after… it’s perfect.
- Butter – whilst you can use bakings spread for the sponge, I’d recommend actual butter for the sauce to prevent splitting
- Sugar – I’d use the same as you used for the sponge, I use dark brown soft sugar though
- Treacle – again, I prefer black treacle for a rich flavour, but golden syrup works well
- Cream – double/heavy cream is best, single cream or low fat won’t work in the same way
- Vanilla – I love to add a little sweetness, but this is optional
Best served with…
My favourite flavours of ice cream to go with a dessert like this are clotted cream ice cream, and toffee ice cream – but maybe that’s a little too much sticky toffee in one go? Or, if you have a giant glug of custard, I’m not going to be mad about it…
You can obviously use whatever ice cream you fancy, or its particularly fun when you make this for a dinner party and buy several different flavours of ice cream – the face of each guest when they cant decide which flavour to have. And of course, you can use shop bought custard, or make your own… whatever you prefer.
Tips & Tricks
- This is best served fresh, but will last 3+ days in the fridge
- The pudding can be made in advance and frozen
- The sauce can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for 3+ days
- You can reheat the pudding once if you have leftovers
- I use a 30x20cm size dish, but anything roughly similar works well
Sticky Toffee Pudding!
Ingredients
Sticky Toffee Pudding
- 175 g dates (stones removed)
- 175 ml boiling water
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 175 g light or dark brown soft sugar
- 250 g self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 75 g black treacle (or golden syrup)
- 3 medium eggs
- 125 ml whole milk
Sticky Toffee Sauce
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 75 g light or dark brown soft sugar
- 2 tbsp black treacle (or golden syrup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150 ml double cream
Instructions
For the Pudding
- Remove the stones from your dates, and chop as finely as possible.
- Pour over the boiling water and leave the mixture to sit for 20 minutes or so. If you prefer no lumps, blend the mixture until smooth.
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan, and get a baking dish ready - I use one that is about 1.5L in size (30x20cm ish)
- Add the unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, self raising flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and the black treacle into a bowl, and beat until combined - beat as little as possible so as not to over beat it.
- Add in the date & water mixture, and the milk a little at a time, and mix in until smooth. It'll be a thin mixture, but roll with it!
- Pour the mixture into the dish and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Whilst baking, make the sauce!
For the Sauce
- Add all your ingredients to a larger pan, and heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted and incorporated.
- Bring the sauce to the boil and stir for 1-2 minutes so it thickens slightly.
- Pour half or most of the sauce over the baked pudding.
- Serve with a drizzle of cream, whipped cream, or ice cream like I did and any leftover sauce!
Notes
- Any dish that is about 1.5-2L in size will work - just keep an eye on the baking time.
- The dessert is best served fresh, but can be reheated once.
- The sauce will last for 3 days, in the fridge - will thicken a lot in the fridge.
- If you want to bake individual puddings, I recommend using these pudding moulds for the recipe! The recipe will make about 8-10 and take 20 minutes to bake!
- If you don't want to use the dates, remove the dates and water and use 250ml milk in total.
Enjoy!
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J x
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Hi Jane,
Which dates do you recommend. Some are hard & really not very nice. Thank you.
This recipe is soooo good! This was my first time trying to make sticky toffee pudding, it always seemed like a trickier thing to try and make but I have to say it turned out really really well I’m so pleased. Having dates in it really enhances the taste and I’m so glad I didn’t leave them out. It was so moist and just a perfect texture! Baked the cake in a glass tin.
I made the original sauce and poured the whole portion on top of the cake instead of the half, I found that the amount of treacle in the sauce made it a little bit bitter so I made another batch to pour and used a little bit less black treacle, used light brown instead of dark brown sugar and the result was a little bit mellower sauce. We served it with ice cream and it was a beautiful combination. All who tried it said its great and not overly sweet.
Thank you for the recipe I will definitely be making it again 😊
Recently had toffee pudding outside for the first time, and got absolutely hooked, so thought I’d try make it at home. This was a hit!!!!!! It was amazingly soft, I do wish there was more sauce, to really soak through the sponge, however, this is my mental note for next time, to make double! I also blended the dates, as I wasnt sure how the texture would be with finely chopped dates instead, but it was mindblowing, decadent, rich and just an all rounder, simple, great recipe! Thank you very much Jane! You are doing the world a service, sharing such wonderful, fool-proof recipes!
As the family ‘cook’, I’m known for my savoury dishes, don’t really do desserts but I had treacle, brown sugar to use up and Medjool Dates on offer, I mean…what else ya gonna make? My first attempt and comments included: “The best STP I’ve ever had”, “Outrageous” and at family Sunday Lunch, “OMG Grandad, what what you done?”. That’ll do me! Thank you for sharing Jane. Another firm family fav in my limited dessert portfolio. 👍
Will this be OK doubled up?
Which do you think gives the best result, the golden syrup, or black treacle?
I’ve tried several Sticky Toffee recipes, this is by far the best. A lovely light sponge, that’s very moreish. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I made this recipe to serve to my friends on my 12th birthday sleepover, and they loved it! You are a truly gifted cook! Thanks so much for this recipe! And does it matter if I freeze the sauce when it’s on the pudding, or should I put the sauce in the fridge and freeze the pudding separately?
Thanks a lot!
Could you melt the butter for the cake mix?
Hi would this work in a bundt tin please?
This is amazing, absolutely love it. If I made this in advance for Christmas and froze it – do I reheat from frozen or do I defrost before reheating – the pudding and sauce seperately?
Thanks
Absolutely amazing recipe and compliments all round 👌🏻 I have a question though, my husband thinks there wasn’t enough toffee sauce, can I just double the quantities for the sauce?
Yes for sure!! x
Lovely recipe!
How long can I keep for in the fridge? Looking to bake as far in advance as possible for Christmas
Only a couple of days is best, or freeze it and reheat!
Was it ok after defrosting and then reheating? Did you freeze the sauce too or make that fresh?
Hi Jane,
Is it ok to prepare the pudding mixture a few hours prior to baking ?
I believe all baking should be baked immediately for best results x
What measurements would you recommend for using a square 9×9” tin
This was my first time making sticky toffee pudding and it turned out amazingly! Great recipe and I will definitely be making again 🙂
I forgot to add golden syrup will it be ok? 🤦🏻♂️