The Art of Making Sticky Toffee Cake: A Delicious Holiday Treat

As I begin to work on this recipe, I'm reminded of my favorite holiday dessert - sticky toffee pudding. This classic British treat is a staple of Christmas celebrations, and for good reason. The combination of moist cake, gooey toffee sauce, and sweet caramel is absolutely irresistible. In this article, we'll explore the process of making sticky toffee cake from scratch.

First, let's start with the basics. We'll begin by creating a puree made from dates and sugar. Yes, you read that right - dates! They're an essential ingredient in traditional sticky toffee pudding, providing natural sweetness and a boost of flavor. To make the puree, we'll combine equal parts of date mixture and water in a blender or food processor. We'll then add this to our batter mix, creating a moist and flavorful base for our cake.

Now that we have our puree, it's time to create the batter. We'll whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, adding in our date puree and other ingredients such as eggs, butter, and vanilla extract. The mixture will be smooth and creamy, with a lovely consistency. Next, we'll add a little bit of grease and flour to our muffin tin or cake pan, coating the insides evenly.

With our batter ready, it's time to pop our cakes into the oven. We'll cook them for 18-20 minutes, or until they're lightly golden brown and still moist in the center. The key is to err on the side of underbaking, rather than overbaking. This will ensure that our cake remains tender and delicious.

While our cakes are baking, we can start working on the toffee sauce. This is perhaps the most crucial component of sticky toffee pudding - it's what sets this dessert apart from other sweet treats. To make the sauce, we'll combine heavy cream, butter, molasses, corn syrup, and vanilla extract in a saucepan. We'll bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer it for a few minutes until it thickens slightly.

As our cakes finish baking, we can start preparing the toffee sauce for serving. We'll poke holes in the top of each cake with a skewer or fork, allowing the sauce to seep into the moist interior. Finally, we'll drizzle the warm toffee sauce over the top of each cake, creating a sweet and sticky glaze.

The Result: A Delicious Holiday Treat

And so, after some patience and hard work, our sticky toffee cake is finally ready! The result is nothing short of amazing - a moist and flavorful cake, topped with a rich and gooey toffee sauce. It's the perfect dessert for any holiday celebration, and I can assure you that it will be a hit with your family and friends.

The Best Part: Making It Your Own

One of the best things about this recipe is its flexibility. You can make sticky toffee cake in a variety of formats - muffin tins, Bundt pans, or even loaves. You can also experiment with different flavors and ingredients, adding your own twist to the classic recipe. For example, you could try using different types of sugar or spices to create a unique flavor profile.

Tips and Variations

For those looking for some inspiration, here are a few ideas for variations on this recipe:

* Try using different types of nuts or seeds in place of dates.

* Experiment with various spices, such as cinnamon or nutmeg, to add depth to the cake.

* Use a combination of white and brown sugar for a richer flavor.

* Add a splash of liqueur, such as rum or bourbon, for an adult twist on the classic recipe.

Conclusion

And that's it! With these simple steps and tips, you'll be well on your way to making delicious sticky toffee cake. Whether you're looking for a special holiday treat or just want to impress your family and friends with a unique dessert, this recipe is sure to hit the spot. So go ahead - give it a try, and experience the magic of sticky toffee pudding for yourself!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso we made it to the end of the year it's been a long time here Christmas is a week away it's time to make nice Christmas dessert now a long time ago I spent a little time in California my ex was from there she worked a lot out there and we sometimes got put up in the Chateau for her work the Chateau Marmont is like a legendary la hotel it's very old-school fun place to stay and they they serve something through room service that I had never really had just kind of heard of it I knew it was a British thing but it was the sticky toffee pudding this little date cake that was covered in this caramel a toffee like sauce and it is maybe one of the best desserts ever and I don't really like fruity things in cakes but done right and the dates are blended up so they sort of just add moisture to the cake this is phenomenal thankfully one of my new friends live for over from live for cake she's the recipe I took for my Ferrero Rocher cake she has a sticky toffee pudding cake that's frosted and I asked her she has a traditional sticky toffee recipe and she pointed me in the direction of who she based her recipe off of which is this recipe from let's see where it is from rock recipes.com this is what I'm talking about that's what it's supposed to look like maybe it doesn't look like much to you but to me it looks like heaven so let's get started making it I'm just gonna kind of follow their method first thing we're gonna do is chop up dates I have about 8 ounces of dates here they're pitted if you don't never had them they're good they're sticky they're sweet they're kind of raisiny but not kind of like an apricot but not it's good it's a pleasant kind of dried fruit flavor so let's chop them up roughly we're gonna blend them later but we get them chopped up because we're gonna throw them into water boil them a little bit and then we're gonna add baking soda which is going to help soften them so that we can puree them real nice I'm just gonna get these into a pot I have a cup and a half of water I'm just gonna add that to the dates so we're just gonna get this onto the stove bring it up to a boil simmer it for like a minute or two then we're gonna add one teaspoon of baking soda let's measure that out and now so this is gonna obviously help with the rise but it's also gonna help soften the dates when they're done cooking okay so so the dates are done I'm going to leave them on the stove and just kind of chill like I need them hot I think when I'm adding them to the batter um I hope I hope I'm doing this right so I have my oven preheating at 350 degrees yeah I get a big bowl out I have one in 2/3 cup of flour can't wait for the Europeans to comment on cup measuring system but you know I didn't invent it so I just was born in America and this is how we did it so maybe I'll switch over for now we're just gonna measure in cups and I'm gonna add flour and sift it I don't think you have to but I always like to know I need 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder dry ingredients are mixed I'm going to set that aside ok I mean another bigger bowl that was too big for the flour do the flour in a smaller bowl this is where everything is gonna happen so first thing by hand blender probably the last time I'm gonna use it I kind of avoid big machinery for as long as it possible on this show but people started sending me stuff and I'm probably gonna start using the cool stuff but I just wanted to start the show off for the first few years using the basic stuff so anything baking you can do with this and it's much cheaper so what do we do first we're going to cream the butter the sugar and the vanilla so I have 1/3 of a cup of butter here softened I have 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar that goes in and then 2 teaspoons of the vanilla extract so now I'm just going to beat these I'm going to cream them clean it together for like 3-4 minutes we got two eggs it says to add each egg one at a time whipping them completely before adding another to work the sides down a little bit this is already looking amazing now three tablespoons of molasses which once you've opened a jar of molasses we can never do it again three tablespoons of molasses and then two tablespoons of dark corn syrup or golden syrup which I was kind of looking for but I could not find so just got them dark corn syrup now we're gonna beat that so now I'm going to start to slowly add in the flour in like three batches essentially if that flower work worked in okay so now we got a puree that date mixture make sure it's hot puree it and then add this in I'm going to add your dates and now we'll blend that that is looking good everything seems to be mixed in well smells oh no big pieces of date which I like to see this is gonna be great so now we're gonna make them into in little muffin trays so each one is sort of like you know an individual serving like that and this is nonstick but I like to just sort of grease and flour the insides just to be extra safe so a little bit of butter and then a little bit of flour lightly coated in each one I think I did that stupid but nonetheless it got done I'm just gonna add my batter to this thing which makes it kind of easy to pour so we're gonna fill them up about two-thirds of the way no more than 2/3 of the way 1/2 to 2/3 of the way because they're gonna rise a little bit okay all we got to do is cook these for 18 20 minutes and then make the toffee sauce which seems to be pretty easy ovens been preheating so we can just pop these in and set a timer now we want to sort of err on the side of under baking them rather than over baking them so we're just going to pull them until like a knife jess comes clean after pulling it we really want to kind of keep this nice and moist now to make the toffee sauce so in a pot we're just going to add a half a cup of cream quarter cup of butter 1 tablespoon of molasses 2 tablespoons of corn syrup and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract quarter cup of packed brown sugar you can get this on the stove and bring it up to a boil and I think simmer it for like a minute or 2 to 3 minutes and then it's done serve it hot so you can just poke a hole with something this is just a thermometer you don't want it to be super wet like there's a little bit of crumb that's stuck to it but that just tells me it's nice and moist but the cake is cooked and that's just what you kind of want to see yeah so we're just gonna kind of pick one we like I'm gonna get one out of here we're gonna plate it up then you got your coffee sauce it looks loose but it's really hot so once that hits a cool plate that's going to start to tighten up and it's going to be the perfect consistency I like to poke some holes so that the sauce can make its way in to the cake mmm I can't even begin to express how insane and good this the cake it's moist and delicate and light the sauce is gooey and caramel II and is the perfect consistency honestly it's one of the best desserts I've ever had dude look at that done the problem is those portions might not even be big enough that's how good it is so here's what's up you can make this in a bundt pan big pan you can make it in a loaf tray you do it in the muffin Qin I'm gonna leave all that kind of stuff down in the recipe different variations stuff that these two people worked out so you can just follow their instructions and you should be good to go and I'll link their websites and channels below but this is up there and I'm I'm not even kidding it's not my recipe so I'm not Tooting my own horn I really had been searching for a recipe that brings me back to that chateau sticky toffee pudding and this is it I promise you that's how you close out a holiday meal there it is last recipe and look at what's going on outside so winter wonderland out there starting to feel that holiday spirit I'm winding down headed on my vacation and I'm gonna be sort of add a commission refueling and recharging for a few weeks so I just want to thank you all I've been an incredible year if you want to grab one of these Christmastime shirts you still have time you won't get it in time for Christmas but you can still have it for future year's holiday plan of attack is still ready to go if you're not ready for the holidays by now you're really never gonna be so if you want to get that that's in the description as well probably gonna see you one more time before I head out do like a live stream or an announcement for who is gonna win that giveaway for my patrons and anyone who purchased the plan of attack so keep a lookout for that but other than that that's all for me this year I'll see you next year until then take care of yourself have the best holiday ever and go feed yourself\n"