Sticky Date Pudding – you’re my favourite and always will be. Also known as Sticky Toffee Pudding, the simple trick that makes all the difference is to pour some Butterscotch Sauce over the warm cake when it comes out of the oven. It makes it ultra moist and gives it that intense dark colour. Plus, more sauce to serve, of course!
Sticky Date Pudding – a childhood favourite!
Who else has childhood memories of Sara Lee frozen Sticky Date Pudding??
It is the only store bought dessert my mother ever bought – and only on special occasions. And as much as I loved it, my one gripe was always that there was not enough Butterscotch Sauce to go around.
Never fear. You won’t have that problem with this recipe! 😂
I know this recipe is called Sticky Toffee Pudding by most of the world – other than Australia and New Zealand it seems. And given that dates are the key ingredient in the pudding, I would say we’ve got it right for this one!!
Dates are key
I am pretty sure this is the only recipe I use dates for. And I realise that the photo above of the date sludge may look thoroughly unappetising to some people, but rest assured even if you’re a date hater that you can’t taste it in the end result.
The dates contribute to the stickiness and moistness of the sponge, as well as giving it colour. Don’t ask me for a sub! (Oh wait, you can. Prunes. Pretty much the same thing! 😂)
Individual puddings – or a large one for sharing
I think it’s more common here in Australia to make one pudding cake that is then cut to serve. Sara Lee frozen dessert style. Whereas in the UK it seems more common to make individual puddings.
I might be wrong here. But either way will work fine, and I’ve provided cook times and directions for both.
Secret tip: Douse hot pudding with sauce
If you’ve ever made one of those cakes that you douse with syrup, you’ll know exactly what you’re in for with this trick!
It goes like this – as soon as the pudding comes out of the oven, poke lots of holes using a skewer (I find this strangely satisfying but let’s not read too much into this), then pour over some hot butterscotch sauce.
This makes the pudding intensely moist as well as staining the sponge to give it that signature dark brown colour, rather than being a pale golden colour which many sticky toffee pudding recipes are.
It also means this pudding keeps for days and days in the fridge and once reheated, it’s just like it’s fresh out of the oven.
The only question is – will you serve yours with cream or ice cream? I’m an ice cream gal, all the way!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Sticky Date Pudding
Ingredients
- 280g / 9 oz pitted dates , roughly chopped (Note 1)
- 1 tsp baking soda / bi carb soda
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar , loosely packed
- 80g / 6 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
- 2 eggs , at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Butterscotch Sauce:
- 1 cup brown sugar , tightly packed
- 1 1/2 cups thickened cream (heavy cream)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 70g / 5 tbsp unsalted butter
Serving:
- Ice cream or dolloping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced).
- Grease 7 pudding moulds (Note 2) with butter or grease and line a 20 cm / 8″ square cake pan with overhang.
Mashed Dates:
- Place dates in a bowl, sprinkle over baking soda. Pour over boiling water. Stand 10 minutes, then mash well with a potato masher (or fork) until it resembles sloppy porridge (see video for texture / thickness). (Note 3)
Batter:
- Place butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat until combined and smooth.
- Add eggs, beat until incorporated.
- Add flour then sprinkle baking powder across the surface. Mix until flour is incorporated.
- Add dates, mix quickly until dates are well incorporated into the batter. (Note 2) Follow directions to make one pudding or individual ones.
One Pudding:
- Pour into cake pan, smooth surface. Bake 35 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- While still hot, poke about 40 holes all over the surface using a skewer. Pour over 1/2 cup Butterscotch Sauce, leave to soak for 10 minutes.
- Use overhang to lift cake out. Cut, serve warm with remaining warm sauce and ice cream or cream.
Baking Individual Puddings:
- Pour batter into pudding moulds, only fill 2/3 of the way up.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- While still hot, poke about 10 holes on the surface of the pudding. Spoon over 1 tbsp of Butterscotch Sauce per Pudding. Leave to soak 10 minutes.
- Turn pudding moulds upside down on serving plate. Serve warm with remaining warm sauce and ice cream or cream.
Butterscotch Sauce:
- Place ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is melted, stir, then bring to simmer.
- Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring once, then remove from heat. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes:
– This recipe probably makes more sauce than you need – but it’s better to err on the side of caution!
– An electric beater will make your life easier but a whisk + wooden spoon will work fine too without exerting yourself too much. Just make sure your butter is well softened and easy to mix by hand.
– Poking holes into the pudding and pouring the sauce over to soak stains the pudding sponge a darker colour as well as adding more moisture into the pudding.
– Sticky Date Pudding is indulgent and very sweet, from both the dates + sugar in sauce. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, this dessert is not for you! To reduce sweetness, you can skimp on the sauce. Or make a lighter, less sweet sauce as follows: Use half the sugar, butter and cream, make per recipe. When it simmers, add 1 cup low fat milk, then 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water. Simmer to thicken. 4. Make Ahead: Exceptional for reheating because it’s so moist. Poke the holes and soak with sauce, reserve remaining sauce for serving. Best way to reheat is in the microwave because it keeps the pudding moist. 5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 9 servings and that all Sauce is consumed, which it may not be. I like to ensure there is enough Sauce because running out is a disaster. Nutrition for 7 individual puddings is 703 calories per serving. They are very generous sizes with loads of sauce (because the sauce recipe makes enough for 9 servings for the pudding cake), so when I scale the Sauce down by 20%, it reduces to 606 calories. Calories per serve for lightened up sauce (see Less Sweet Sauce above) is 477 calories.
More cosy warm desserts for cold winter nights
Life of Dozer
If you look real close on the right side, you’ll see the tiniest glimpse of my hand as I desperately tried to hold Dozer back from doing a face plant into the Pupcakes…..
Hi Nagi – this is one of my go-to desserts – thanks! Just wondering how long it lasts in fridge? Can I cook on Thurs & serve on Sat for example? Or am I better to freeze it? Thanks
Hi Nagi,
Firstly thank you for all the wonderful recipes you produce. Your recipes are the only ones that never EVER fail me if I want to try and make something for the first time.
I tried the sticky date last weekend first time and god it was marvelous! But I wanted to ask you why did my mixture curdled as soon as a put eggs in. Everything was out half a day so room temp? I don’t know if it affected the taste cause it was yum! But maybe it can be better?:-)
This is the best version of sticky date pudding I’ve ever made. It’s nice, light and fluffy, deliciously sweet and you can actually taste the dates! Perfect, thank Nagi. You never disappoint 🙂 x
That’s great Lalani!! I am glad that you enjoyed it! N x
This dessert was such a success – the only complaint that there wasn’t enough for seconds.
My sauce didn’t thicken even though I simmered it for a long time. Any suggestions?
Did you use thickened cream Jackie? N x
No I used pouring or runny cream. It wasn’t wasted so will definitely be making it again 😁
This recipe is amazing!!
One tip I have, salt the butterscotch sauce, one of two cracks of the salt grinder is all it needs and it elevates it to a whole next level. It’s good without it but incredible with it.
Thanks for that tip Renee – I agree!! N x
My family in UK would like to make this, is double cream the substitute for thickened cream?
Btw…you are amazing ❤️
Yes double cream will work. Thickened cream in Australia is 35%+ fat cream with a stabilising agent in it like guar gum as opposed to pure cream which has no added thickeners. Enjoy! N x
Hey! Could I make the cake batter in advance and then cook it a few hours later in the day?
No Millie – the cake will collapse. I would make it ahead then reheat to serve! N x
Hi there, can you make this without the bicarb/baking soda?
No you can’t Stephanie – it won’t rise and will be hard and dense. N x
Hi Nagi,
Your recipes are my cooking cornerstone!
I am hoping to do a Malaysian inspired meal and wonder if I can substitute the sugar in the cake and sauce with palm sugar/malacca sugar?
I haven’t tried that Joanna but I think it would work – it is very similar to brown sugar! N x
Delicious and so easy to make.
The butterscotch sauce is AMAZING…..
Thank you Nagi your recipes are so tasty and easy.
This was next level amazing. I could wallow in that sauce! I made it in the air fryer because I had dinner in the oven, same cooking time but reduced to 150 degrees Celsius so it didn’t get burnt. Thanks as always for another reliably perfect recipe Nagi!
I just had a laugh thinking of swimming in caramel sauce 😂🏊🏼♂️!! N x
Perfect flavour!
I tried it with the sauce and without. The recipe makes a lot of sauce and it is delicious but also very sweet.
This sticky date pudding was amazing! I made one large one in advance for Easter. As suggested by Nagi I put the sauce on and baked it, then cooled and refrigerated overnight. Reheated in the microwave the following day and served with the extra warmed up sauce. So delish!
Is it 1 1/4 cups or 185 grams? They’re not the same thing. One cup is 128 g which puts this at 160 g. If you go with 1 cup being 140 g, that’s 175 g.
Also is it really only 40 g sugar? I like lower sugar amounts because dates are very sweet, but recipes for this dessert typically call for much more.
Hi Sai – I work off 1 cup is 150 grams and it’s rounded to 185! And yes it’s 40 grams brown sugar – there is a lot of sugar in the sauce too! N x
Hi Nagi this is my favourite recipe for sweet indulgence. I tell myself, for the sake of my family, dates are a super food. Which they are. I love the photo of Dozer!! I see your hand holding him back. I’m wondering where to find the recipe for those amazing cupcakes🐾
Hi Nagi, what sort of dates should I use to make this? Medjool dates or the ordinary dried, dark dates from Coles / Woolworths? Also can left overs be frozen? Thank you!
Either of those dates will work fine Leena although I think the fresh or Medjool dates are a bit better flavour. And yes, the puddings freeze well! N x
Thanks Nagi! I made this tonight using medjool dates and it was amazing!
Great recipe. Being lactose intolerant I haven’t had a sticky date in years. In my memory they were kind of heavy, but this one is so light and fluffy, and the sauce is to die for. I just used lactose free cream which made it a safe food for me. It will become a staple for sure!
Woo hoo I am glad you liked it Louise!! N x
Im by no means a dessert/sweets person, but this was phenomenal. I’m actually speechless.
The cake is so light and fluffy and then the butterscotch sauce sends you to another dimension.
Nagi, I love your recipes, but this one is next level!!!
I am happy that you liked it Olivia! N x
Amazing recipe. Got rave reviews for this. I made the night before, poured all of the sauce over, refrigerated overnight then covered with tin foil and put in oven on 325 for 20 mins to reheat.
I’m happy you liked it Juliette! N x
Hi Nags. This recipe is absolutely a keeper. Can I double the recipe. I want to make it for a party ( 16 head counts)
Yes Kris this one should double ok! N x