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…..
Hamish says
Thank you so much for all your recipes. I have so many womens weekly books but much prefer your recipes and photos. Recommend yours to all my family and friends. Keep it up!
Nagi says
That’s lovely, thanks so much Hamish!
Stephenie says
Yummy …. much enjoyed . It is also a very good simple & easy recipe to make. Thank you.
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Stephanie!
Sandi Zanardo says
Hello Nagi, you say if one can’t get the right sour cream not to use it not to use it in the cheesecake. So what do you use instead? Sandi
Nagi says
Hi Sandi, which recipe are you referring to? I imagine it’s not the sticky date puddings 🙂
Fernweh says
Nagi,
wow wow wow, was this ever delightful. This sticky date pudding tasted exactly like the first one I had when travelling Australia. Mine turned out exactly like the pictures. I started making your recipes last week and today this is the 4th one I’ve tried. All turned out perfect and delicious. Can’t wait to try more!
Thank you,
Joe
Nagi says
Wahoo! Thanks so much Fernweh!
Naomi Aharon says
Hi, i’m looking to make the day ahead. Do I poke the holes and add the sauce or do I save it for the actual day of serving? I do have a microwave for reheating.
Timtam says
Hi this recipe sounds devine! Can I substitute the sugar with Stevia?
Nagi says
I Haven’t tried Timtam – Would love to know if it works! (I imagine it may work in the cake but definitely won’t work in the sauce)
Tamara says
Hi Nagi, awesome recipe. Next time I want to make it one day ahead. Can I just double check your make ahead instructions. Do I cook and do holes/sauce straight after cooking or save the holes/sauces bit for after reheating only? Unfortunately I need to reheat in an oven. Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Tamara, Save the holes & soaking with sauce for reheating if you are reheating in the oven – cover them to make sure they stay moist – N x
Holly says
Wow! Just made this pudding for my dads birthday and everyone loved it!!! So easy to make, I’ll never buy store brought again!
Nagi says
So much better than store bought! Happy Birthday Dad!
Naomi says
I’m a chef by trade & this is hands down the BEST sticky date pudding recipe I have ever made it tasted!
I doubled the recipe & baked in a tray. Instead of mashing the dates I strained them (reserving the water) I wizzed the dates until it was a chunky paste & then tipped them back into the water before adding to the flour etc… once baked I think I poked about 70+ holes & poured 2 cups of the sauce over. It was so lovely and dark in colour when cut, not to mention MOIST! Everyone at my dinner table was in heaven. Absolutely DEVINE! thank you for sharing 🙂
Nagi says
That’s amazing to hear Naomi!
Hannah says
Oh my gooooosshhhh! Eating this right now and give it two thumbs up!!!
Nagi says
Wahoo!
VINEETA says
Hey I have a unique issue, I have made a sticky date cake with butter Scotch sauce, and I’m using this shape of a bundt cake with a hollow centre, where I want to put the sauce for at least 5-6 days. But the sauce gets absorbed but the cake in few hours, I have made the sauce thick but still next day it gets absorbed, anything I can do /spray to avoid the sauce from getting absorbed in the cake ?
Nagi says
Hi Vineeta, the sauce will always absorb into the cake unfortunately as that’s what it’s designed to do!
Hayley says
I made this for my family tonight and it was a massive hit!!! Everyone loved it!! So thank you Nagi! I have a question regarding the butterscotch sauce, mine was quite runny (but absolutely delicious), I was just wondering if it was supposed to be runny or did I not let it simmer long enough to thicken up? Thanks again for another crowd pleaser!
Nagi says
Hi Hayley, I’m so glad you loved it! Just let it simmer a little more and it will thicken – N x
Danielle says
Hi Nagi
About to try this recipe and just a couple of quick questions. Can I substitute whole meal flour for white and can I use normal butter instead of unsalted? Would these changes make a lot of difference ?
Nagi says
Hi Danielle, I’m sure it would work find with wholemeal flour and salted butter may just change the flavour ever so slightly – N x
VINEETA says
HI Nagi
can i freeze this sticky date cake?
Nagi says
Yes definitely Vineeta!
Stephanie says
Very easy recipe to follow. Planned to cook ahead and eat for the next day.. after having a little taster, my partner and I couldn’t help ourselves and before we knew it we hadn’t eaten through more than 2 slices haha. Will keep this recipe as my one and only for sticky date pudding!
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Stephanie!
Stephanie says
Great recipe! Nicest sticky date pudding that I’ve ever had better then in some restaurants. Cake was lovely and moist and that sauce….bliss!!
Nagi says
Woah what a compliment!!
Erika says
This is divine! So light and delicious! Perfecto!
Nagi says
😍 Thanks Erika!
Kristen says
I have absolutely NO baking ability but this recipe was so foolproof I managed to impress mum (and the rest of the fam) on mother’s day. It was absolutely divine. Will definitely be saving this one. Thanks so much Nagi!
Jihane Barakat says
Hi, Can i prepare Batter ahead and put it in Oven an hour later when guests arrive?
Thank you
Nagi says
Hi Jihane, no sorry as the raising agent would have been activated as soon as it’s mixed with the wet ingredients. You could always pre-cook and then reheat once you’re ready to serve!
michelle says
It was so easy to make and absolutely delicious. Every bit as nice when I reheated in the microwave. Another winner Nagi. Thank you.
Nagi says
Woot! Thanks Michelle – N x