Sticky toffee pudding

I'm getting time off for good behaviour - this has been sent in by one of our customers.

Enjoy.



Right, Sue, how does one stand on copyright issues? I was a bit bothered about this, but looking at the changes I have made, I think it has to be "mine". The recipe is based on one from the Wells Cathedral (Somerset) teashop booklet, but looking at other recipes for the same pudding it's easy to see how very similar they are, within the parameters possible. I have changed some of the measurements, changed some of the instructions for the dates, changed the sugar and flour used, changed the cooking method - yes it has be "mine"!

So, the original was baked in an ovenproof dish, but I usually use a pudding basin these days to keep it nice and moist..

I use Imperial measurements but for the sake of the metrically compliant among us (!), I have converted to grammes on a 25 gm rather than 30gm per oz, so as not to overfill the basin.

Here goes:

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Serves about 8

Butter a 2 pint (1.2L) pudding basin well

Ingredients

50gm / 2oz butter

125gm / 5oz sugar, soft light or dark brown, or golden granulated

1 egg, lightly beaten

200gm / 8 oz plain flour, half wholemeal, half white, with1 tsp baking powder sifted in, or use self raising flour

200ml / 8fl oz boiling water in a jug/bowl, and 1tsp soda bic (bicarbonate of soda)

*175gm / 6 oz dates

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Sauce

275gm / 11oz dark brown Muscovado sugar

150gm / 5oz butter

250ml / ½ pint double cream

* You can either use chopped ones, cut up whole ones with kitchen scissors, or, even use whole, which is fabulous - my favourite - they soften and sort of candify! See note below**.

Method

Put dates in bowl/jug with boiling water and soda bic to soften a little. They will continues softening during cooking.

Mix butter and sugar well, add the egg, then flour. If using food processor, "blitz" butter and sugar, then add egg and vanilla, and finally fold in the flour/baking powder mixture by hand.

**Add dates, as much of the hot water needed to make a rather sloppy mixture. Adjust as necessary.

Put into the greased pudding basin - it will almost fill it.

Grease a piece of foil or greaseproof paper large enough to cover the basin, and tie it round the top with string.

Cook on High for 2 hours, and turn down to Keep Warm if it's ready before you are.

**Alternatively, lift the dates out of their soaking water, and put them in the bottom of the basin, adding the liquid to the sponge mixture and mixing in well. (If using whole dates, I usually mix them through the sponge ingredients.)

Toffee sauce

Warm the ingredients in a small pan on the hob to dissolve the sugar, bringing to a gentle boil,
Turn pudding out on to warmed plate, pour over some of the sauce, and serve rest in a jug to add as required.

Postscript

The other thing I did yesterday was to cook a whole cauliflower in the slow cooker. It was rather large, so cut in ¼s and added about half a packet of butter, sprinkled with a little salt and white pepper, and cooked for 2 hours on High, just lifting the lid periodically to turn the quarters over. It was melt-in-the-mouth sweet and tender. (My husband doesn't normally like cauliflower, but even he admitted it tasted OK (he couldn't possibly go so far as to say it was nice!)

I thought I'd try it with chopped swede, as I love it, but it can have a slightly "I don't know what flavour" . Also the Jerusalem artichokes from the garden... or how about parsnips, perhaps cooked in with Bramleys? Endless possibilities...

Must go and get lunch!!

Bye for now Elisabeth