Sticky Toffee Pudding

For this month's Secret Recipe Club we were assigned Searching For Spice.  Corina is in the UK and loves cooking with different spices. She cooks all kinds of Mexican, Indian and Thai food. I immediately look at the desserts because that's what I love to make and eat. Sticky toffee pudding is an English dessert which we had while in London two years ago and we also had a delicious version of the pudding in the Grand Cayman Islands.  So when I saw that was one of her recipes I picked it immediately as I was always going to make it once I got home from vacation. They call it a pudding but this is more like a cake that you soak with caramel sauce so its soft but not really a pudding at all.  And since the recipe makes extra sauce you have to put ice cream on top so you can pour the sauce all over it.  I know I will be making this again.  Corina uses European measurements so I changed things up a little.  I also added chopped dates which she didn't because her husband didn't like them.      

Ingredients:
CAKE
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 ounces Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup hot water
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature

SAUCE
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray PAM around a 2-1/2 quart baking dish.  Place chopped and pitted dates in a bowl, pour hot water over them and let soak for 15 minutes.  Stir in baking soda.

Beat together with a mixer on medium-high speed the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy about 3 minutes.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Reduce speed to medium and beat in eggs one at a time until thoroughly mixed.

Reduce speed to low and add 1/2 of the flour mixture, beating until combined.  Add the date mixture and then the remaining flour mixture. Beat until just combined.  Transfer batter to prepared dish.

Bake until cake is puffed and springs back in center when gently pressed with a finger about 25-30 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the sauce.   In a saucepan combine the butter, brown sugar and heavy cream. Bring to a boil over high heat.  Do not let the sauce boil over.  Stir frequently until the sauce thickens and darkens about 4 minutes.  

Remove cake from oven and pierce holes all along the edges and middle.  I used one chopstick and that was the perfect size to make holes for the sauce.  Pour half of the hot sauce over the cake and let soak for 20 minutes.

Serve cake warm with remaining warmed sauce poured over ice cream.  Cake and sauce can be stored at room temperature for one day.

Enjoy!!



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