So yesterday was a snow day, and today is also a snow day. I went outside and went sledding yesterday, so today I plan to be more productive and sit down and get some work done. And the first thing on my checklist is publishing this post, so that’s one thing done.
It also might snow again this weekend. It’s still a little too far out to tell, but if it does snow it’s looking like it won’t be very much. Still, a cozy day is always welcome.
I did manage to finish up my January recipes over winter break, except I still need to film/photograph the last one. That’s definitely an accomplishment, but I still feel like I’m behind. I have one recipe finished for February and it was supposed to be the easiest one. But it proved to be more difficult when I had to make it three times in one day to get it right. But now I think I have it figured out and I can go ahead and film it.
I was planning on using yesterdays snow day to film a recipe but honestly, making three different versions of the same recipe kind of took me out on Monday. So I decided to take it as a blog and school work day, and also go sledding because that’s just what you do.
I had to rearrange my publishing schedule this month because I wanted to publish this recipe while it was still snowy. This is my favorite recipe of the month and it’s very cozy and comforting. It’s definitely the best snow day recipe I can think of.
Describe This Pudding to Me
Taste: This sticky toffee pudding is crammed with the coziest and most comforting flavors. The toffee has a warm buttery flavor, infused with bittersweet espresso and molasses. The pudding has sweet dates, refreshing cardamom, and warming cinnamon.
Texture: The pudding itself is soft and moist, and the toffee sauce adds this cozy layer of gooeyness on the top and on the bottom. I always recommend serving this with vanilla ice cream, which adds another layer of deliciousness.
Ease: This recipe is pretty easy to throw together, and there’s nothing that’s technically difficult. The only downside is that this pudding generates a lot of dishes. But don’t worry, the coziness makes up for it.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Sticky toffee pudding is a classic British dessert that consists of a moist date sponge baked atop a layer of toffee, and served warm with more toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream. It’s often served around Christmas time, but I think it’s warming and comforting nature makes it more suitable as a pick me up in the long month of January.
The Toffee
The toffee is super easy to throw together, it’s not fussy like a custard. All you do is bring cream, brown sugar, molasses, and espresso powder to a boil, and then let it thicken at a simmer for a little while. Then, we pour half of it into our baking dish to be the gooey bottom layer, and save the other half of it for topping.
The Pudding
Now before I describe this, let’s get one thing straight. This is a pudding, but not by the American sense of the word. So it’s not like a creamy custardy thing, it’s an English pudding which is closer to a cake by American standards. Ok cool, let’s move on. It starts off with some chopped up dates being boiled with some water, and then the addition of baking soda. This process softens the dates, making the. batter smoother and more delicate. From here on out it’s pretty straight forward. Mix together your dry ingredients like flour, baking powder, and spices. Then cream together your butter and sugar before adding in the rest of the wet ingredients. Then mix it all together, the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and the dates.
Baking
To bake this pudding, we spread the batter on top of some half frozen toffee sauce. When I say half frozen, I mean it shouldn’t be a solid but it should just be a little thickened. When you pour the batter on top, try not to mix the toffee into it though a little mixing is inevitable.
Coffee Cardamom Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
Method
- Grease a 7×11 inch baking pan with butter. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a medium sized saucepan, stir together the cream, brown sugar, molasses, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat, then turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for five minutes stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken a little during this time, enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and pour half of the sauce into the previously prepared baking pan, and the other half in a small bowl. Set the baking pan in the freezer so the sauce can firm up while we make the batter. Set aside the toffee in the bowl to be used as a topping later.
- Heat the dates and water in a medium sized saucepan over high heat. Once the water starts boiling, remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda. Set aside to cool slightly while we make the rest of the batter.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium heat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low speed add half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, mixing until almost combined. Add half of the date mixture, mixing until almost combined. Repeat with the second half of both mixtures.
- Remove the baking pan with the toffee in it from the freezer. It should be thickened, but not rock hard. Pour the batter on top of the toffee and spread into an even layer. It's ok if the toffee mixes with the batter a little bit, but try to avoid it. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before scooping into bowls and serving warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a generous spoonful of the reserved toffee sauce on top. If the toffee sauce has thickened, microwave for 20 seconds or so until it reaches a pourable consistency.
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