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…..
I made this last night. First time making sticky date pudding from strach. It was INCREDIBLE!!
This recipe is SO easy and SO good! The butterscotch sauce is amazingly simple but so so delicious.
Big thumbs up from Masters 4.5 and 1 years too.
Whoa.
Like, seriously – whoa! This is ridiculously good. You might read the recipe and go, yeah cool, easy peasy, not too many ingredients, it’ll be fine, taste good, etc and then you actually make it and it’s SO GOOD. Like MINDBOGGLINGLY good.
I made this to go with some store bought custard that we somehow ended up with over Christmas (I didn’t buy it, I have no clue how it ended up in our fridge…) but I wasn’t about to let it go to waste, so I found this recipe and thought, yeah, I have a packet of dates that needs using, lets give it a crack and then my husband pretty much proposed marriage (again) as soon as the first spoonful went in his mouth.
I did add some salt to balance out the sweetness and I poured way more then half a cup of the hot sauce over the pudding so it was VERY sticky and moist but holy hole in a doughnut Batman, this pudding is hands down amazing.
Hi! I am super excited to try this but I do have one doubt. I just bought fresh dates! Will that work or does the recipe require for dried dates? I was just gonna pit then and chop them up. Will that work?
I am glad it was a success Chris! N x
Hi Nagi, I rarely ever write comments but I must say Im hooked onto your page after I prepared your blackforest and vanilla cake..I’m not good at baking but it was the first tym I felt my cakes came out perfect..just now I prepared this dates pudding which I had been craving for after I had a bite somewhere..was always reluctant to bake as I was concerned if it would come out fine.. I must say, yours will the one of the go to pages for baking anymore..thank you so much..
I made this yesterday and it was fantastic. The whole family loved it. Miraculously, there were some leftovers and it was just as good the next day. Thanks so much for all the work you put into the recipes Nagi. Have a great New Year’s.
Thanks SG! Happy New Year! N x
I cooked this for christmas 2021 for my family. It came out perfect and it was incredibly easy to make. The thought of making Butterscotch sauce scared me as I thought I would burn it, or it would seperate, but it came out perfect. Thank you for the lovely recipe. I made it a day ahead so I don’t have to worry about cooking on christmas day. I poured all the sauce on top to keep it moist and ready for microwaving on the day (thank you for adding that tip for those of us cooking a day ahead), I would’ve just chucked it in the oven and it could’ve turned out dry. Thank you for another great recipe Nagi xoxo
Made the sticky toffee pudding yesterday. It was amazing. Once again a fool proof recipe. The sauce was also to die for. I made a large one which was great but I reckon the individual ones would be extra special for special occasions. Made mine ahead of time and reheated in microwave. Just perfect!
Hi Nagi! Love your recipes. Just wondering, do you think I could freeze the sauce? Trying to make ahead to use up some cream that is about to expire!
Hi Laura – yes it freezes ok. Just thaw and heat to use it! N x
Just wondering if I am able to use self raising flour for this recipe.
Thanks
I haven’t tested that Debbie so not 100 percent sure as it has both baking soda and baking powder which affect the rise. You could try it leaving out the baking powder and let me know how it goes. N x
I love this recipe so much! Can I make it gluten free?
Questions:
1. Can your double the recipe?
2. How can you make ahead and reheat without a microwave? Leave them in the ramekins?
3. I’m still confused about the 1 1/4 cups as that does not equal 155 grams in any of the conversions I’ve found. Should I just go with 155 grams (we don’t have cup measurements here in Finland)
Thanks so much.
This will be for our Christmas dinner
Hi Shannon – yes use the metric gram weights as they are most accurate. You can double this recipe. You can leave them in the ramekins and keep the sauce separate if you are reheating in the oven. Cover them with foil and reheat, then top with the warm butterscotch just before serving. N x
Hi Nagi, so I can bake this a day ahead and just add the sauce once reheated.
Hello, Nagi! Does this hold its shape well? I am planning to use mini bundt cake moulds. I am worried it might break. Thanks a lot!
I think those would work ok Grace! N x
I’m planning to make this for a Christmas lunch Nagi. What sized pan would you recommend for a tray bake? I don’t have 10 individual moulds. Thanks! xx
See Step 2 in the recipe for other pan sizes! N x
Love this cake with miso butterscotch sauce.
I made this last night and my adult family loved it, best sticky date pudding ever. I also added 1 tsp each of ginger, cinnamon and allspice.
I made this the other night for a dinner party we went to and it was a hit! My husband said it was a 10/10! Thank you for a yummy yet easy recipe! I’ve recommended it to my friend already!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Nagi! This turned out amazing thanks so much 😍 just wanted to confirm with you, approx how many cups do 280g pitted dates come to?
Hi Shree…just under 2 cups..hope you enjoy!
These were truly the very best dessert I’ve had in a very long time. I’ve lost my mothers recipe and I have to say I think this is a duplicate. If I could give it a 10 I would!
To quote Janice from Friends: “OH…MY…GOD!!” Amazing. So so moist and delicious. Saving this one
Amazing recipe – I cooked it in a single cake pan and it turned out beautifully.
Hi Nagi,
Which brand of pitted dates would you recommend?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Wendy, I’ve tried this with a few different types and they’ve all worked fine! N x