Sticky Toffee Cake

Sticky Toffee Cake ~ The classic British sticky toffee pudding in cake form. Delicious alone or with a drizzle of cream and a strong black coffee.

Sticky Toffee Pudding is a British steamed dessert made up of a very moist date studded, brown sugar sponge cake covered in a toffee sauce and is often serving with custard.

This sticky toffee cake has got most of the things you love about a sticky toffee pudding yet it’s made in less than half the time.

It’s sticky, SWEET and those chopped or in my case, torn up dates add not only natural sweetness but a lovely chewy texture to the cake.

The jury is still out on whether it’s better than the classic steamed pudding which is extremely moist and moreish, still this cake is good in its own way.

I was tempted to make a custard to serve with the still warm, fresh from the oven cake, though after tasting  said cake I knew it was unnecessary as the sticky toffee sauce (that’s so easy to make) added just enough moisture and in all honesty I don’t think I could handle any more sugar, but maybe for the steamed pudding I’ll make an exception.

Once the cake cools the sauce dries and becomes more like a glaze. I found the cake is then best enjoyed drizzled with cream and as it’s very sweet its ideal pairing would be a strong black coffee.

Ingredients

• • 175 grams stoned dates, chopped (or torn up)
  • 175 ml boiling water
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 85 grams unsalted butter plus more for greasing, room temperature
  • 90 grams dark brown sugar
  • 50 grams demerara sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (halal)
  • 175 grams plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 45 grams dark brown sugar
• 40 grams demerara sugar (you can use white caster or light brown sugar instead)
• 40 grams unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoon single cream or milk
• small pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and Line a 20cm / 8 inch square cake tin.
2. In a medium sized bowl mix flour and baking powder together, set aside.
3. Put the dates in a small pan with the boiling water and bicarbonate of soda. Heat gently for about 5 minutes, without boiling until the dates are soft.
4. Cream together the butter and two sugars in a bowl until lighter and fluffy, this should take about 5 minutes. This can be done by hand, with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
5. Beat in the egg
6. Followed by the vanilla and date mixture
7. Fold in the flour using a metal spoon or silicone spatula, mixing evenly.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake in pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until firm to touch and just starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
9. For the toffee sauce, combine the two sugars, butter, cream/milk and salt in a small saucepan and heat gently until dissolved. Simmer gently stirring for about 2 minutes.
10. Remove the cake from the oven and prick all over the surface with a skewer or fork.
11. Pour the hot toffee sauce evenly over the surface. Leave it to cool in the tin for a while if serving warm or to cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.

Notes

Summary

Article Name

Sticky Toffee Cake