My Sweet Addiction

Warning this substance is highly addictive and in extreme cases consumption may cause hyperactivity and weight gain.  But trust me it's worth the risk.  This dense, caramel soaked confection is sticky toffee pudding, and I find that since I first had it at Simone's a few weeks ago I've developed a  sort of freakish obsession with it. 

I actually made this about a week ago, but as the result of various computer related issues, I couldn't post until this morning.  I've missed the official SHF deadline, but I'm hoping Debbie will have it in her heart to mention me anyway.  Pretty please Debbie, with sugar on top.   ;o)

To make this dessert I had to search various recipe sites for one I thought might produce a result similar to Simone's and I decided on this one.   I made some changes to the recipe, but sadly at least two of those were a direct result of not reading the recipe completely through.  How many times you ask, have I read the golden rule of using a recipe?  Apparently not enough times.  Okay leave me alone, so I didn't read the recipe, but I did skim through it.  That's kind of like reading. Right? 

My first mistake was to cream the butter and the margarine with the sugar.  Yes, I did this even after clearly reading the section in the recipe where it says, 'cream the margarine with the sugar'.  The light bulb finally came on when I was ready to make the toffee sauce and I had no butter.  My realization came too late to save the cake, as it was already baking away in the oven (oops).  The other error I made was to add the baking soda to the flour mixture and not to the dates.  Again this error was also discovered too late.  I arrived at the date preparation stage and look at that, I had no soda left (oops again).

The other changes I made to the recipe were entirely my choice.  No really, they were.  Really.  I pureed the dates with the water, instead of chopping them to avoid having big chunks of gooey date in the cake.  Then once I made the sauce I wasn't totally satisfied with it either.  It was too bland and I wanted the sauce to add more flavor to the cake, not only sweetness.  I borrowed some ideas from other recipes I'd come across in my travels and added two tsp of whiskey and some molasses (sorry I didn't measure it) to the prepared caramel.  This gave it a little more flare.

Once the cake was out of the oven I allowed it to cool slightly before I poked it with holes and poured the caramel over.  Using a pastry brush I attempted to spread the sauce around and was successful, at least, in depositing several coarse, spiky pastry brush hairs in the caramel.  Aah!  After picking out all the stray hairs, I popped the cake under the broiler for a few minutes until the top was all sticky and bubbly. 

I probably should have waited until the cake cooled, but the anticipation was much too great.  I cut a little corner out and took a bit.  Yum.  OUCH!  Double yum.  Dense, moist cake oozing with caramel sauce.  It was well worth the 3rd degree burns I suffered to my tongue.  The rich flavors in the caramel were a perfect compliment to the fruitiness of the dates. 

I would definitely make this again, but it's still not quite what I was looking for.  This recipe produced a pudding that was very cake-like in texture, while the one I'm seeking is much more dense and pudding like.  I also suspect that Simone's recipe doesn't use dates.  The sticky toffee pudding saga continues.

Comments

[chronicler]

Oh I love this recipe! I goof up all the time in reading the directions too! I will remember your mistake and try not to do the same thing. I just don't know where to begin! So many great things to eat!

[Ana]

Sounds sinfully delicious! Not reading the recipes carefully is also something I do far too often. Sometimes, the end results are worth the lack of attention though.

[Niki]

I loved reading this entry. Sticky toffee (or date) pudding with caramel sauce is a firm favourite in Australia, especially during cold, grey Melbourne winters. I think Jill Dupleix, the Aussie expat now cookery editor of The Time in London has the best recipe. I recommended it to Clothilde at Chocolate & Zucchini when she was looking for a good recipe too:
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/04/apricot_sticky_toffee_pudding.php

Australian Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup dates (180g) -- pitted and chopped
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup boiling water
2 tbsp butter
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup self-raising flour-sifted

Toffee sauce:
1 cup soft brown sugar
3/4 cup light whipping cream.
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter

Directions

Mix dates and baking soda in a heat-proof bowl. Pour boiling water on
top and leave to stand. Cream butter and sugar until pale, then add
eggs one at a time, heating well after each addition. Gently fold in
sifted flour, stir in the date mixture, and pour into a lightly
buttered 18cm or 7" square or round cake tin. Bake in a preheated
oven (180 C) for 30-40 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes clean.

Combine sugar, cream, vanilla essence and butter in a saucepan, bring
to the boil, stirring, and simmer for five minutes. Set aside until
ready to serve, then quickly reheat when needed. Cut pudding into
squares and place each square in the centre of a warm dinner plate.
Pour hot toffee sauce over each square and serve with fresh cream.
Recipe By : Jill Dupleix
Servings: 6 servings

[Carolyn]

It looks very good. Toffee sounds good always!

[Jennifer]

Ah, the trials and tribulations of recipe goof-ups! I'm glad though that you got the cake made and the entry up in time for SHF (I'm ALWAYS a little late and I know the theme ingredient months in advance!) because this looks and sounds fantastic!

Thanks so much for joining in this month and sharing this glorious recipe!

[Liz]

chronicler,
I feel your pain. There are way too many things to try. I have a million things marked out to try, and yet I still buy more magazines and cook books. Best of luck! :o)

Ana,
This mistake was much the same. There was not any draw back that I could find from having added the extra butter. It was still darn good. Especially in the middle where most of the caramel sauce soaked in.

Niki,
Thanks for the recipe! I will certainly add this to the list of puddings to try. I have attempt number two sitting on my counter right now, but once that's been posted on the site and eaten, this one will be next.

Carolyn,
It's fast becoming one of my favorites as well. I think that might be bad.

Jennifer,
That's too funny! I also find that while there's lot's of advance notice I'm always running around at the last minute trying to get it together. In this instance at least, all ended well. I'm going to try be more prepared, but in all honesty, it probably won't happen.
:o)