Tuesday Treat

Sticky Toffee Pudding (with Gluten-Free Option)

Until recently I’d been struggling to find a recipe for a ‘Sticky Toffee Pudding’ which could be made gluten-free; I found that a lot of recipes were heavy on flour so couldn’t be adjusted easily. Then, having dinner at a friend’s, I was served this Sticky Toffee Pudding from Nigella Lawson – how could I have overlooked the ‘domestic goddess’ of cooking?!.. By adding just half a teaspoon of xanthan gum to gluten-free flour, my friend, Leon, discovered that Nigella’s recipe works fantastically well. Whether you need to make this dessert with the gluten-free option or not, it’s one of the best Sticky Toffee Puddings I’ve tasted!..

200g soft dried pitted dates (roughly chopped)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

75g soft unsalted butter (plus more for greasing)

2 x 15ml tablespoons black treacle

50g dark muscovado sugar

2 large eggs (at room temperature)

150g plain flour (gluten-free flour if required plus ½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum *see note above)

2 teaspoons baking powder

For the sauce:

150g soft unsalted butter

300g dark muscovado sugar

1 x 15ml tablespoon black treacle

200ml double cream (plus more to serve)

*You will need a two litre baking dish (approx), lightly greased

1. Put the chopped dates in a bowl with 200ml of boiling water and the bicarbonate of soda, give it stir and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Cream the butter and black treacle until well mixed, then add the sugar and mix again, beating our any lumps. Beat in an egg and keep beating until fully incorporated, then do likewise with the other egg. Beating more gently, add the flour (and xanthan gum if gluten free) and the baking powder until you have a smooth batter.
3. Using a fork, stir the soaked dates, squishing them a bit, then pour the dates and their liquid into the batter and beat gently to mix in.
4. Pour the batter into your prepared dish and bake in a preheated oven, 160’ fan, for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. While the pudding is in the oven make the sauce. Melt the butter, muscovado sugar and treacle over a very low heat in a pan. Stir gently until everything has melted. Now stir in the cream, then turn up the heat and when it’s bubbling and hot, remove from the heat.
6. As soon as the pudding is out of the oven, prick the cooked sponge all over with a cocktail stick and pour about a quarter of the warm sauce over, easing it to the edges with a spatula so that the sponge is entirely topped with a thick sticky glaze. Put a lid on the remaining sauce and keep warm in the pan.
7. Leave the pudding for 20-30 minutes, or up to an hour is fine, then take to the table with the rest of the sauce in a jug, and cream to serve.