Sticky toffee pudding
The Lake District has given us many great things, including
Sticky Toffee Pudding. My STP is deeper and darker than the original; black treacle and muscovado sugar give it an almost savage intensity. It should be eaten warm; once the sponge has been topped with the sauce and had its 30 minutes’ waiting time, it will be at optimum temperature.
SERVES cuts into 9 generous slabs
FOR THE SPONGE
• Soft dried pitted dates – 200g, roughly chopped
• Water from a freshly boiled kettle – 200ml
• Bicarbonate of soda – 1 teaspoon
• Unsalted butter – 75g, soft, plus more for greasing
• Black treacle – 2 x 15ml tablespoons
• Dark muscovado sugar – 50g
• Eggs – 2 large, at room temperature
• Plain flour – 150g
• Baking powder – 2 teaspoons
FOR THE SAUCE
• Unsalted butter – 150g, soft
• Dark muscovado sugar – 300g
• Black treacle – 1 x 15ml tablespoon
• Double cream – 200ml, plus more to serve
• 1 x approx 23cm square baking dish
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan and lightly grease your dish. Put the chopped dates, boiling water and bicarb into a bowl, give a stir and then leave for 10 minutes.
2 Cream the butter and black treacle until well mixed, then add the sugar and mix again, beating out any lumps. Beat in an egg and keep beating – scraping down as necessary – until completely incorporated, then do likewise with the other egg. Beating more gently, add the flour and baking powder until you have a smooth, thick batter.
3 Using a fork, stir the soaked dates, squishing them a bit, then pour the dates and their liquid into the batter and beat gently to mix in.
4 Pour and scrape into your prepared dish and bake in the oven for
30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
5 While the pudding’s in the oven, you can make the sauce. Melt the butter, muscovado sugar and treacle over a very low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. Once the butter’s melted, stir gently until everything else is melted, too. Now stir in the cream, then turn up the heat and when it’s bubbling and hot, take it off the heat.
6 As soon as it’s out of the oven, prick the cooked sponge pudding all over with a cocktail stick and pour about a quarter of the warm sauce over, easing it to the edges with a spatula so that the sponge is entirely topped with a thick, sticky glaze. Put a lid on the remaining sauce in the pan to keep it warm.
7 Leave for 20-30 minutes, then take to the table, with the rest of the sauce in a jug, and cream to serve.
‘My STP is deeper and darker than the original version’