Sticky Toffee Pudding

One thing I have always missed since going dairy-free is being able to have a selection of puddings when eating out. I adore proper rib sticking, more calories than its worth thinking of, puddings. My local Health Food Shop had bags of dates on special which inspired me to revisit an all time childhood favourite, Sticky Toffee Pudding. I made the recipe my own with more dates than normal as well as a couple of other tweaks to make these the ultimate in indulgence. We scoffed ours with big scoops of vanilla ice cream for a more summery treat but a banana custard would be equally delicious over the top.

Ingredients:
For the Puddings:
230g pitted dates
175ml boiling water
2 tsp vanilla extract
175g self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
85g butter - I used soy
140g demerara sugar
2 tbsp treacle
100ml milk - I used soy

For the sauce:
175g sugar
50g butter
225ml cream - I used soy
1 tbsp treacle

Method:
Roughly chop the dates into small pieces and place in a bowl with the hot water and set to one side for half an hour. While the dates are soaking, preheat your oven to 160c fan. Take a muffin tray and coat each muffin cup with butter and then a dusting of flour to prevent sticking.

In a seperate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until combined and creamy then carefully add in the eggs and treacle. Gently fold in the flour and bicarb before adding the milk and mixing well until a thick batter forms.

Add the vanilla extract to the dates before mashing them with a fork to break them down, Add  to the batter and mix well. Spoon the mixture carefully into the pre-prepared cake tins and bake for 20 -25 mins until springy to touch and a skewer comes out clean. Leave in the tins to cool for 5 minutes before carefully turning out onto a cooling rack.

While the puddings are baking, melt together the sugar and butter for the sauce with half the cream. Once these have melted together, add the treacle and let bubble for a few minutes until it becomes a rich toffee colour. Remove from the heat and add the rest of the cream.

Place the puddings onto dishes and top with the sauce, if you can leave them overnight to soak and become delightfully sticky then even better.  Pop in the oven at 160c fan for around 20 minutes to reheat until the sauce is bubbling.

Serve hot with ice cream or custard.

When you make these, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife