Finding the Best Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe – Part 2

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

This post is my second installment in my quest to find the “best” recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding. I selected this recipe as it has a unique ingredient not found in the other recipes I have for this pudding  – rum. And, it has it in both the pudding and the sauce. This recipe came from the blog Eliza Domestica, which I find has delicious recipes that are similar in style to ours. (Note: I made a few minor changes to the recipe posted below, mainly to clarify directions and ingredients.)

I made this recipe last evening for a group of friends, and the general feedback was that it was delicious, but the pudding was a bit dry. Like recipe #1, the consistency is more like regular cake than a traditional British “pudding”, which is more moist and similar to a sponge cake. One of my tasters thought the dark brown sugar flavor was too strong and would have preferred light brown or regular sugar in the cake. The rum sauce was delicious, and the consistency was especially nice after it cooled and thickened up a bit.  I really liked the fact that this cake and sauce can be made earlier in the day, which allows the sauce to really soak into the cake.

If you make this recipe, let me know what you think -

Enjoy!

Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe #2 – adapted from www.elizadomestica.com

(Serves 8 to 10)

Pudding:

8 ounces of dates, chopped
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 cup water
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs

Rum Sauce:

8 ounces heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup light rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a square 8-by-8  inch pan and set aside.

First, make the pudding: in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the chopped dates, rum, and water. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, then reduce the heat down to a simmer for 5 minutes. Once the dates are soft, purée them in a blender or food processor. Set aside to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add one egg at a time, mixing well. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture into the batter, alternating with the rum date purée. Mix just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the rum sauce:  In a large saucepan, bring heavy cream, butter, and sugar to a boil for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add rum, and boil for another minute.

Pour half of the sauce over the baked cake, saving the other half for drizzling over cake when it is ready to be served. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

High altitude adjustments: increase water and rum each by around 1 tablespoon, decrease baking powder by 1/8 teaspoon, decrease sugar in pudding by around 1 tablespoon.

Make ahead: Cake and sauce can be made earlier in the day and stored at room temperature. You can either reheat the cake or serve it at room temperature.

Tags: dates, Desserts, easy desserts, rum, rum sauce, Sticky Toffee Pudding
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