One of my all time favorite desserts is Sticky Date Pudding, AKA Sticky Toffee Pudding. It is not really a “pudding” in the American sense of the word, but an extremely moist cake with toffee sauce. I first tried it at Boulcott Street Bistro in Wellington, New Zealand when I worked there in the 90’s. The owner and the chef at the time, was nice enough to fax me the recipe when I moved back to the States, but I’d long ago lost it. But a friend Amanda came to the rescue with the recipe from Sharrow Bay, where the recipe originated. She sent me this recipe a few months back and I finally made it.
It is fairly simple and utterly worth every moment you spend making it. I served it over the holidays when my friend and her daughters joined us for dinner. She said it was maybe the best dessert she’d ever had and I had to concur. Then a couple of days later I made it to bring to another friend’s for dinner. I made it the second time in a slightly different way. That friend and all the kids also loved it.
First time I boiled the water and poured them over the dates. The second time I brought the dates and water to a boil. And I used half brown sugar, half white in the second batter. I preferred the second one. This is a very sweet dessert so you can always cut down on the sugar and it still would be plenty sweet enough.
Sharrow Bay Sticky Toffee Cake
Cake:
6 oz. dates, chopped (I used one 8oz pack)
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ cup sugar (2nd time used brown/white sugar)
4 tbs. butter (1/2 stick)
2 eggs
¾ cup self rising flour (I used 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp baking soda well sifted)
½ tsp. vanilla
Topping:
6 tbs. heavy cream (I increased this to taste)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
½ stick butter (I used 1/2 stick salted butter)
½ tsp. vanilla
Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 355° F
2. Grease and line 8 inch square baking pan
3. Place dates in saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Take off heat and add the baking soda. Stir well, and let sit for 10 minutes.
4. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
5. Stir in the flour.
6. Stir in the date mixture
7. Pour into baking pan (it is a very loose batter). Bake until toothpick inserted in cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Approximately 30 minutes.
This is my first batter in which the dates/baking soda were just soaked in boiling water. It will be much darker if you bring dates/water/baking soda to a boil. 
Topping:
Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool and then pour/spread over cake.
Serve with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. You could also make a creme anglaise in place of the toffee sauce topping. I really couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. So glad I can make it to our hearts’ desire!
A wonderful benefit of this dessert is that it’s got great fiber content. It is much healthier than many other desserts (besides the fact that it’s got heaps of sugar, but then it is dessert).
