Sticky date cake or pudding, like they call it, is essentially a British dessert consisting of a moist date cake and served with toffee or caramel sauce and some ice-cream!
So I have made it as far as D, shall I do the happy dance yet or hold on till I at least reach the half way line. Considering my history with blogging challenges, I think I will hold on to it for a while, I can’t afford to dance till I reach the half way and may be even then I will push it to 3/4 mark. Anyway, this Date cake is proof enough that I am serious about this 🙂
However, I am surely celebrating D with a yummylicious dessert. Sticky date cake or pudding like they call it. Sticky date pudding is essentially a British dessert consisting of a moist date cake and served with toffee or caramel sauce and more often than not, a dollop of ice cream.
It is also very popular in Australian and has made appearance many times in THE God of all food shows aka Masterchef Australia, however if you read more Sticky Date pudding is believed to have origins in Canada, but in my mind it is British, a perfect candidate for English tea parties along with that pound cake, scones and sandwiches.
I also find this so easy to make, stays super moist for at least two days and freezes very well for up to three months. It is often a dessert for my winter parties when warm cake and sauce feels brilliant after the meal. I make it a day ahead and store it in an air tight container, just microwave for 30 seconds before serving. Pour the sauce on top and voila you are done.
And oh, before the recipe, another awesome dessert where you can use dates is the Milk Dates Peda! They taste so unique and yum!
Sticky Date cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
For the date cake
- 1 1/2 cups dates (210g) pitted
- 1 cup water boiling
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup brown sugar (100g)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (60g)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all purpose flour (150g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the caramel sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar (200g)
- 6 tbsps salted butter (90g)
- 1/2 cup cream (120ml)
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 170C. Grease a 6 jumbo hole muffin pan or a normal 12 hole muffin pan or a 6-inch round pan.
- In a large bowl, add cup of boiling water, finely chopped dates and baking soda and let it stand for 8-10 minutes till the dates are soft. You can also use full pitted dates here and puree the date mixture to coarse consistency. I alternate between both the methods. The puree leads a little more sticky cake whereas the finely chopped dates give a nice texture to the pudding.
- Add eggs and melted butter to the date mixture and whisk well it incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the wet mixture along with sugar and using a spatula fold till dry ingredients are fully incorporated in the wet ones.
- Pour in the prepared pan and if baking in the 6 hole jumbo pan (my preferred pan for this) bake for 18-20 minutes, 14-16 minutes for the normal muffin pan and about 30-40 minutes for the 6-inch pan. The cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean in the middle
- Let the cake cool before demoulding, and in the meantime, make the sauce.
- Place the butter, cream, brown sugar and sea salt into a small heavy bottom saucepan. Melt over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes or until completely smooth. Pour over the date cake and serve warm with ice cream.
pinksocks says
Gorgeous.
sinamontales says
Thanks Pallo 🙂