This week’s Martha Mondays recipe is Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding, chosen by SweetLorraineBakeshop. Sticky toffee pudding is a very English dessert, and one we enjoyed on our recent UK trip. I’m not sure how hard it is make regular sticky toffee pudding, but this was very easy.
The cake batter was pretty basic, except you have to soak some chopped dates in hot water before adding them. Dates are not a very common ingredient in US desserts, except possibly for fruitcake.
the cake
I got the cake in the oven and I should have checked it sooner because it too brown on the bottom. I set the timer for 55 minutes (the recipe says 55-65 minutes) but I would have pulled it out sooner if I had checked it.
While that was in the oven, I started the toffee sauce. This stuff is evil. Brown, sweet and delicious. Oh dear.
It reminded me of those hard toffee candies – Werner’s I think is the brand. Just evil.
When the cake comes out, Martha says to cool for 5 minutes, then flip it and put it back in the pan. I totally do not get that step at all. I used a silicone baking pan so it wasn’t sticking. Maybe it would in a regular pan? I don’t know.
Then Martha says to poke holes in it with a toothpick. This felt very Paula Deen to me – kind of like her poke cakes. I made lots and lots of holes and then
sauce on the cake
poured one cup of the sauce on top. It just sat there. It did not soak in. I let it sit a good hour before we ate it and nothing happened. Maybe some did absorb but I couldn’t see it.
Now for the taste test. We served the cake with additional sauce on it. I thought the cake itself had a nice taste but the sauce was the real winner on this. I could just eat the sauce plain or I could put it on ice cream…. I do have one complaint about the cake. The dates. I just didn’t like them in the cake. You’re eating a nice soft piece of cake and you get a chewy piece of date. I’m not a fan of raisins in baked goods either, so it’s the same objection, I guess. The flavor of the dates was fine, but
just not the consistency. We didn’t eat the edges of the cake because it was simply overdone, but the insides were fine.
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I thought this cake was wonderful. I did follow the step of removing the cake from the tin after 5 minutes with disasterous results but I loved the cake. Am back on my diet now after eating two slices yesterday – so bad!
Pru
Pru, in your experienced English opinion, was this close to traditional sticky toffee pudding?
It looks great and I cant wait to make it. Getting inspiration from you all and then I’m heading into the kitchen. I’m worried about the sauce soaking in. We’ll see! 🙂
Even if it doesn’t soak in, you just pour some sauce over it when you serve it.
I had the same issue with the recipe — the sauce didn’t soak in. The dates were also a little too chewy for me. I don’t think the 1/2 c. boiling water was enough to soften them up. My husband ate another piece tonight and says it tastes even better the second day.
Hi Brette,
Well as I had never tried it before I don’t know, but we all agreed that it was very much like the consistancy of pudding instead of cake. It had a big thumbs up in our house!
Pru
This looks good but I don’t think I am going to try making it — I really don’t like dates very much and I don’t think my kids will eat this one…