Best Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

This classic British dessert is so good that when I made it for my mom she declared that it was her favorite thing I have ever made. It’s rich, complex flavors and moist texture makes it a decadent dessert that is hard to beat. If you have ever been to the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you might have seen this dessert listed on the menu or tried the sticky toffee pudding ice cream at Florian Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley. When it comes to Harry Potter desserts, or authentic Irish dessert ideas for St. Patrick’s Day, this Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake is my favorite! It’s also perfect as an easy Christmas pudding if you want to celebrate Christmas in Victorian fashion!

What is sticky toffee pudding?

Sticky toffee pudding is a classic British dessert made with chopped dates and drenched in a homemade warm toffee sauce. The best sticky toffee pudding should be moist and sticky with a date sponge cake that is covered with rich toffee sauce. In case you are confused, a “pudding” in Britain or the UK usually just means a cake or dessert, not a custard like most Americans think of when they hear the word pudding. There are a lot of different approaches to making this moist, rich, sticky dessert. Some puddings are steamed, some contain treacle or golden syrup in the sauce, others have it in the cake itself, other versions include molasses, some call for white sugar, some for brown, nuts or no nuts, etc. and so forth! My sticky toffee pudding recipe uses only ingredients that are readily available in the U.S.

The Best Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

If you are looking for the perfect dessert to serve on St. Patrick’s Day, one that you might find in Ireland and not just something dyed green with food coloring, Sticky Toffee Pudding is delicious and the way to go! You can bake the date cakes in individual ramekins, muffin tins, or even mugs, if you like. I have a couple of mugs that have dome-shaped bases that I thought would create a fun look for these cakes and they worked perfectly as ramekin stand-ins since they are essentially the same thing. In fact, I ended up choosing the cakes made in the mugs for these photos because I liked how they were not as squat as the cakes made in the ramekins and had a fun, unique shape to them. I haven’t tried using mugs as ramekin substitutes for Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes yet but I’m guessing they would work just as well there too! Just make sure to divide your batter evenly between 6 similarly sized oven safe containers and pop them in the oven on a baking sheet.

Sticky Pudding Cake Ingredients

Medjool dates – You might need to remove the pits yourself, which is easy to do by slicing the dates open and pulling out the hard center with your fingers, but often it’s already done for you. Boiling water – This is for soaking and softening the dates. Baking soda Sugar – I use granulated sugar in the cake batter and brown sugar in the sticky toffee sauce. Vanilla extract Salted butter Eggs All-purpose flour Baking powder Salt Heavy cream

How to make Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake

How to make Toffee Sauce

Storing this Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

Uneaten sticky toffee pudding can be stored in an airtight container on the counter at room temperature whether you have already topped it with the toffee sauce or not. It will be good for up to 5 days. Unused toffee sauce can be kept in the refrigerator and warmed in the microwave or a small saucepan just before pouring it over the cakes. Lightly adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.