Sticky Toffee Pudding
A make-ahead British classic: a moist date sponge soaked in warm toffee sauce, meant to sit a day or two and get even stickier. Serve with cream or ice cream.
- 50 g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 200 g pitted dates, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 300 ml just-boiled water
- 75 g light soft brown sugar
- 75 g dark muscovado sugar
- 2 eggs
- 175 g self-raising flour
- 125 g butter
- 75 g light soft brown sugar
- 50 g dark muscovado sugar
- 200 ml double or whipping cream
- pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or 160°C fan). Butter a large ovenproof dish generously, either a traditional oval baking dish or a brownie-style tin roughly 8 x 12 inches (20 x 30cm), making sure to get right into the corners so nothing sticks later.
- Put the chopped dates and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and pour the just-boiled water over the top. Leave the mixture to stand while you get on with the batter — the hot water and bicarb work together to soften the dates and break them down, which is what gives the sponge its deep, moist texture instead of leaving chewy date pieces throughout.
- In a separate bowl, beat the 50g of butter with both sugars using an electric beater until the mixture turns very soft and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in a heaped tablespoon of flour with each addition to help stop the batter from splitting, then fold in the remaining flour until just combined.
- Add the softened dates along with all of their soaking water to the batter and stir briefly, just enough to bring everything together — the batter will look quite loose and wet, which is completely normal for this style of pudding. Pour it into the prepared dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch and has just started pulling away from the edges of the dish.
- While the pudding bakes, make the toffee sauce. Put the butter, both sugars, cream, and a pinch of salt into a saucepan over low heat and stir until the butter has fully melted and the sugars have dissolved.
- Turn the heat up and bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce it back down and let it simmer for a few minutes until it thickens to the consistency of a light custard — it's ready when it coats the back of a spoon rather than running straight off.
- While the pudding is still hot from the oven, poke holes all over the surface with a skewer or fork, then pour over about half of the warm sauce, letting it soak down into the holes. This is the step that makes the pudding genuinely sticky rather than just a sponge with sauce on top, so don't rush it.
- Let the pudding stand for a while before serving, or — even better for flavor — cover and leave it in the fridge for up to a couple of days, since the sponge only gets stickier and more flavorful as it sits and continues absorbing the sauce.
- When you're ready to serve, warm the pudding back through in a low oven and gently reheat the remaining sauce in a small pan. Serve warm with the rest of the sauce poured over the top, alongside cream or ice cream.
Chef's Note: This is one of those rare desserts that's genuinely better made ahead than served fresh — the poke-and-soak step means the sponge keeps drinking in sauce and moisture for as long as it sits, so a pudding that rests overnight in the fridge will always be stickier and richer than one served the same day. It's a proper Sunday classic from the north of England, and the make-ahead nature of it is exactly why it's such a good option for entertaining.
If you'd rather not wait, you can serve it the same day, but try to give it at least an hour to rest after the first sauce soak so the sponge has time to properly absorb it. Store any leftover pudding, covered, in the fridge for up to three days, and always warm both the pudding and the reserved sauce separately before serving rather than microwaving them together.
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