Date pudding with toffee sauce

Back in the Second World War, two Canadian officers were staying at a hotel in the north-east of England, where they gave the recipe for a pudding to the hotel owner; and it makes sense what they tell us about its origin not being English but Canadian, since the dough is more similar to that of an American muffin than to that of a delicate English sponge cake.

I am talking about the delicious sticky toffee pudding or, in other words, date pudding with toffee sauce , a very well-known dessert in England, a dessert with many variations and ways of cooking, but what never fails is that its main ingredient is always dates.

At home we love to steam it, this way we get a very moist and not heavy pudding. The toffee sauce is always ideal, but I can tell you that just with an English sauce you would be like kings. Are you up for making it? It's a very simple recipe, don't miss it!

Kitchen Craft pudding mould , Emile Henry wavy ceramic mould and Revol porcelain plates

Ingredients (For 8 people)

• 250 g seedless Medjoul dates (approx. 12 pieces)
• 300 ml water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 160 g self-rising flour plus a little more for the mould
• 60 g butter
• 60 g brown sugar
• 60 g white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 pinch of salt

For the toffee sauce:

• 220 g brown sugar
• 120 g butter
• 350 ml liquid whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 pinch of salt

Elaboration

1. Place the coarsely chopped dates in a frying pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, lower the heat and cook gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Using a mixer or food processor , cream the butter with the sugars, work well until you get a uniform mixture, then add the eggs one by one until they are unified, add the vanilla paste and mix well.
3. Next, add the date mixture, which if necessary we can crush with a fork, mix well and add the flour, working until obtaining a uniform cream.
4. We grease and flour our Kitchen Craft Masterclass pudding mould , add the mixture, seal tightly and place in a large pot, fill with hot water up to half, cover and cook for 80 minutes.
5. While the pudding is cooking, we can prepare the toffee sauce. To do this, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat. It is important that it does not come to a boil.
6. After 80 minutes of cooking, remove the pudding from the heat, let it rest for 5 minutes uncovered and unmold it in our Emile Henry ceramic mould or, failing that, in a deep container. Cover it with some of the toffee and, the leftover toffee (which there will be none left), serve it in a jug so that everyone can help themselves if they want more, and serve it warm.

Emile Henry wavy ceramic mould and Revol porcelain plates

I love this warm, sweet and tasty pudding, it's perfect to surprise without worrying about turning on the oven, served with toffee sauce it's the best but I tell you that topped with vanilla ice cream and pecan nuts it's a real sin.