In another lifetime I worked as a waiter in an olde-worlde, ancient English pub. This gorgeous pub was in a teeny tiny country village and people travelled the skinny, windy roads from villages all around to eat there.
It was here that I first tried one of the most popular deserts on the menu – sticky toffee pudding. Now it is a household name of a dessert but back then it was just getting its name out there, at least in Australia. Many was the time that I would just have this delicious, warming dessert for dinner after a busy waitressing shift at the pub. Ahhh, youth…
This most English of desserts gets its caramel-y taste from the addition of pitted dates and brown sugar. When baked it creates a moist, golden, melt-in-the-mouth pudding that is the perfect way to end a wintry night.
Back at the pub they served the pudding with its traditional caramel sauce, which I have updated by making it salted caramel sauce. The salt cuts through the sweetness and provides a nice contrast to the sugar.
Whenever I make this dessert even the non-sweet eaters cannot resist a wedge. Served warm, drizzled with the salted caramel sauce, and maybe a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side, it is such a luxurious cold weather dessert that couldn’t be easier to make.
It is a great dessert for feeding a crowd – as it is quite rich a small square goes a long way.
GATHER:
250g pitted dates, snipped with scissors into chunks
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 cups boiling water
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
Salted caramel sauce
50g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
50mL golden syrup
125mL double cream
75g unsalted butter, cubed
half to one-and-a-half teaspoons best quality salt [I use pink Murray River salt]
Let`s get to it:
Put dates and bicarbonate of soda in a small bowl then pour over boiling water. Set aside for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C and spray a 20cm square cake tin with non-stick spray and line base with baking paper.
In bowl of electric stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale then beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat until incorporated before adding the next egg.
Fold in the flour and date mixture with a silver spoon and stir until incorporated.
Pour batter into pan and bake for 35 minutes. Set aside while you make the sauce.
Salted caramel sauce:
Melt butter, sugars and syrup in a small heavy pan and simmer for two to three minutes. Swirl, don’t stir, occasionally.
Slowly pour in cream and half a teaspoon of the salt and stir before tasting. Add a little more salt at a time if you desire.
To serve: Cut pudding into squares, place in serving bowl, then drown in salted caramel sauce. Best eaten warm.
Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, recipe, salted caramel sauce, sticky date pudding, winter dessert
Whenever we travel to America from Australia one of my favourite things to do is go to diners for breakfast. The more retro the diner, the better. If we are seated in a red leather booth I am in hog heaven. I love everything about American diners, especially the enormous, decadent breakfast items you are unlikely to see in Australia.
the hungry mum 