Sticky Toffee Pudding – a recipe from Ireland
The story about this recipe from Ireland.
There is a story behind this recipe, and here it is. In December 2014, I was invited to a brunch in the home of my maternal cousin Ruth Beitzel in western Maryland. She told me I could bring five guests with me. I invited my sisters Rachel and Alice. Alice brought her daughter Christi and I brought my girls, Sarah Beth and Rebekah. At the end of our brunch, Ruth served this pudding and sauce. We begged her for the recipe!
Chopped dates, real butter, and self-rising flour along with seasonings and spices make this a delicious dessert. And the sauce? Oh.my.goodness. Real butter, sugar, and heavy cream stirred together over low heat leaves one with a scrumptious sauce topping.
Ever the gracious hostess, Ruth gave the recipe to us. She also shared the story of how she got this recipe.
Too good not to share!
A few years back, she traveled in Ireland (the birthplace of her paternal ancestors). She was served this pudding/sauce at a restaurant and, to her delight, was given the recipe. (Ruth is savvy that way, and I am not at all surprised that she got them to give her the recipe.)
I asked Ruth if I could post the recipe on this blog, and she said, “It’s too good not to share!”
In late January of 2015, the same sisters came to Virginia to help celebrate my 60th birthday (now you know how old I am.) They helped prepare this cake (sticky toffee pudding) and sauce; we served it to some fifty guests that evening.
To our surprise and delight, even the men kept coming back for seconds. One of my girlfriends said, “This is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.”
Try it. I won’t be surprised if you, too, will think it’s the best (or one of the best things) you’ve put in your mouth.
I am including the original recipe and our conversions.
Sticky Toffee Pudding - a recipe from Ireland
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped dates
- 10 fl oz. water - [1 1/4 cups water]
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 oz butter - [1/4 cup butter]
- 8 oz caster sugar - 1 cup sugar put sugar in blender and blend until fine but not powdered to equal one cup
- 2 beaten eggs
- 8 oz self-rising flour - 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- SAUCE ingredients: 3 oz. Butter 3 oz. Soft Brown Sugar, 20 fl oz. Double Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160˚C (320˚F)
- In a saucepan, simmer dates and water until the dates are soft (approx. 5 minutes), then add baking powder
- Meanwhile, in a bowl cream together the sugar and butter until soft and nearly white
- Add the eggs to the butter mixture slowly
- Add the vanilla essence to the butter mixture
- Fold the flour into the butter mixture until just combined
- Add the date mixture and stir until just combined
- Put into a greased baking tray and bake for approx. 35 minutes or until a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean. (A 9 x 9 works)
- SAUCE directions - melt butter, add brown sugar, then add double cream a little at a time, stirring constantly until it thickens*
**Confession: the day of my birthday party, the sauce didn’t want to thicken. We had never made this before and didn’t know what we were doing. My sister added 1 teaspoon cornstarch (dissolved in a little of the sauce and then added to the rest of the sauce). It thickened quickly. We don’t know if it was the cornstarch or the timing!
Thank you! ♥️☘️