HCB - Sticky Toffee "Pudding"

The Sticky Toffee "Pudding" that the Heavenly Cake Bakers are baking this week, is not a pudding at all. It's a cake that originates in the UK where in many cases what we call a "cake" here, is called a "pudding" over there. But let's forget about semantics. I loved this cake. It has (Medjool) dates, lots of warm spices and caramel sauce on top. What's not to like?



A simple cake packed with flavor!


The date puree is made by boiling Stout (or in my case, ginger ale soda) and adding halved dates to it. After this mixture is cooled completely, the dates are pureed. I just used my immersion blender instead of the food processor (easier cleanup). The other change I made is to use an equal amount of granulated sugar and brown sugar. I just love brown sugar in combination with spices. Speaking of spices... I reduced the nutmeg by 1/4 tsp and used 1/4 tsp of ground ginger in its place (I figured that made sense since I used "ginger" ale). I also added a dash of ground cloves.


Mis-en-place of ingredients

Once the butter, sugar and eggs are light and fluffy, the dry ingredients are added, alternating with the date puree.

The batter came together quickly. The recipe is for a 9"x13" pan but I decided to use a 8"x8" square pan and two 6" round pands (the latter two small cakes I froze after baking so I can make a layer cake in no time when I need it).

Doesn't that batter look nice? It's thick and velvety smooth.

The butterscotch sauce in the recipe sounded good but had a little too much butter for my taste. Instead I made a batch of my Honey Caramel glaze to which I added a dash of cinnamon. The recipe for that glaze can be found here.

Final thoughts/tips:

• This cake was a big hit. I took the 8"x8" pan to a dinner party where it was well-received. My friend, Wafae, gave it a 9 out of 10. My husband liked it very much too. He gave it an 8.5 out of 10.
• As I mentioned earlier, I loved this cake. It's moist, with the right amount of spice, and not too sweet (despite the caramel on top). This cake might very well become my go-to recipe for a spice cake. I'd have to experiment but I think these would make great muffins too (even without the caramel sauce). The other thing I'd like to try is to use 100% brown sugar. I think that would work really well.
• Recap of my changes: + 1/4 tsp ground ginger, - 1/4 tsp nutmeg, + dash of ground cloves. Used half granulated sugar and half brown sugar. Instead of the butterscotch sauce, I used a Honey Caramel glaze. The recipe for that can be found here.