Sticky Toffee Pudding

Last year, during a trip to the Lake District, Rachel and I had the opportunity to visit what for us is the equivalent of an Elvis fan's trip to Graceland.
 
We both have a sweet tooth and for me in particular the classic British dessert 'Sticky Toffee Pudding' is my favourite. So it was with extreme excitement that we wound our way down through the beautiful countryside from Hawkshead Hill, after a delightful stay at - Summer Hill Country House, to Cartmel.

Cartmel is a small village in the south of the Lake District famous for one thing - being the home of the greatest dessert our fair shores have to offer. 

Having bought one of the puddings as a souvenir we arrived 2 hours later back in Manchester at my mother's house to drop off the car she'd very kindly lent us for the last few days. While unpacking i decided to show my gratitude for the car loan and offered Ma Foster the aforementioned Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding and carefully put it in the fridge for her to enjoy another day.

The following day we were getting ready to head to the station for our train back to London, which my Mother had generously offered to drive us to. Before heading off i stuck my head in the fridge to see if there were any last snacks i could nibble at and my eyes landed on the sticky toffee pudding...

It had been 24 hours since we'd experienced the delicious taste up in Cartmel and i found myself craving another hit.

And so, and looking back now with a little hint of guilt, i rescinded the offer to leave the pudding. I took back the gift I'd felt so good giving just the night before and stuck it back in my bag with a smile on my face knowing that i could enjoy that incredible taste once again later that evening...

Having polished that off in no time i thought it might be worth cooking one from scratch myself, so using the memories from Cartmel as inspiration i did and the recipe is below. I think i should probably make one for Mrs Foster or at least buy her one of the originals that I've noticed you can now buy in Waitrose.

Ingredients, for approx 10 portions -

Chopped Dates

250g dried dates, stoned and chopped

300ml black tea, medium strength

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g unsalted butter, softened

200g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
200g self raising flour

Tsp vanilla essence

Tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice

½ tsp nutmeg

For the toffee sauce -

100g unsalted butter

100g light muscovado sugar

150ml double cream

• Preheat oven to 160C Fan / 180C Normal
• Put the dates and tea in a saucepan and bring to the boil, cook for around 6 minutes until the dates are softened. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda
• Beat the butter with the caster sugar until pale and creamy
• Add the eggs and continue to beat, add in the flour, vanilla essence and spices, ix to combine
• Fold in the date and tea mixture and pour everything into a large lightly buttered ovenproof dish
• Bake for around 35 minutes, the top should be just firm to the touch
• While that's baking make the toffee sauce - Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and warm over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and you have a smooth sauce
• To serve cut the pudding into squares, drizzle over the toffee sauce and pour over hot custard.