Since London has moved into new restrictions for covid I’m not going home to my family so Christmas will be small with just me and my boyfriend. I wanted to come up with a dessert I could easily make to serve just the two of us for Christmas day. Most Christmas desserts are way too large to be a good option so I thought I’d small-batch a British classic – sticky toffee pudding!!
The cake batter is easy to make (just two bowls and some utensils, no mixers or anything like that!). It includes soaked dates, of course, which I mash up with a fork instead of blending. This way you end up with small chunks of dates throughout the cake which adds a nice variation in flavour and texture. The dates are soaked in black tea (I just used a Yorkshire tea bag) but you can soak them in boiling water if you don’t have tea.
To make two individual servings I baked the batter in a muffin tin, just filling two of the wells with batter. If you have little metal pudding basins, ramekins or even a couple of sturdy ceramic mugs, those will work too.
The toffee sauce is very simple to make too, no thermometer needed, as it relies on dark brown sugar for that caramelised flavour rather than actual caramelisation of the sugar. I like to make it without treacle in the cake/sauce as I find it can be a bit too strong a flavour but feel free to swap out some of the sugar in the cake/sauce for a bit of treacle if you want that deeper flavour.
The hot toffee sauce is poured over the warm cakes before serving and, if you like, you can drizzle on a bit more soy cream (or add a scoop of non-dairy vanilla ice cream).
Sticky toffee pudding without eggs or butter
As this is a vegan version, the cake uses oil to make it dairy-free and soaked oats to make it eggless! If you’d prefer to use eggs, you can switch the oats for 1/2 a beaten egg.
In the toffee sauce I used vegan butter (tub or block butter will work) and soy cream or oat cream. These are easy to switch for their non-vegan alternatives if you’d like.
Can it be made in advance?
Yes you can bake the cakes and make the sauce up to 2 days in advance. Just make sure you wrap the cakes up in a resealable bag and keep in an airtight container. Put the sauce into a lidded jar and keep in the fridge. Just reheat everything before serving (see below)
Can it be frozen?
Yes you can freeze the cakes as long as they’re cooled & wrapped tightly in a resealable bag. Let them defrost overnight at room temperature OR reheat in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes / microwave in 10 second bursts until warmed through.
How to reheat sticky toffee pudding:
For the cakes: unwrap the cakes and put onto a tray in the oven at 180C (350F) for 10 minutes (if fridge-cold) or 15-20 minutes (if frozen) or microwave in 10 second bursts until warmed through.
Sauce: Warm the sauce in a small pot on the stove (adding a little splash of water to loosen if needed) or remove the lid and microwave in 10 second bursts, stirring between bursts, until hot.
Sticky Toffee Pudding for 2 (vegan)
Ingredients
Cake:
- 50 g pitted dates (weigh after pitting them)
- 100 g boiling water
- 1 English breakfast tea bag (optional)
- 2 tbsp porridge oats
- 50 g plain white flour
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar (/muscovado)
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Toffee Sauce:
- 20 g vegan butter (block or tub)
- 3 tbsp dark brown sugar (/muscovado)
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 4 tbsp soy cream or oat cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C non-fan (350°F fan/375°F non-fan) and grease two of the holes in a muffin tin with vegetable oil.
- Place the pitted dates, tea bag and oats into a small bowl. Pour over the boiling water and set aside for 10 minutes to soak. After they've soaked, remove the tea bag (squeeze it to get all the liquid out of it) and use a fork to mash up the dates as much as you can.50 g pitted dates, 100 g boiling water, 1 English breakfast tea bag, 2 tbsp porridge oats
- In a medium bowl mix the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. Pour in the date mixture & oil . Stir to combine - don't overmix.50 g plain white flour, 2 tbsp dark brown sugar, 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Divide the batter between the two muffin holes - you should be able to fill them right to the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until well-risen and, if you gently press the top of the muffins, they spring back.
- Gently loosen the cakes from the tin with a butter knife and tip them out onto a plate. Set aside.
For the toffee sauce (make this while the cake is baking):
- Combine the butter, sugar and salt in a small pot. Melt over a medium-low heat and, once fully melted, allow to bubble for 1 minute to melt the sugar. Next stir in the vanilla and cream then mix to combine and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.20 g vegan butter, 3 tbsp dark brown sugar, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 4 tbsp soy cream or oat cream
Serve:
- Place each warm cake onto a dessert plate. Pour over the warm toffee sauce (and extra cream if you like). Eat!
This was SO good! I have had it on my list for a few weeks and finally made it this evening. We loved it and I am certain it will be a regular.
It was so yummy!!! I love all your cakes – just the right amount of sweetness
Why don’t you give the tbsp measures (sugar, oil, oats, cream) in grams? So much better than shonky spoons. 🙂
Puddings are my favorite and I must say this one will go right top on all of those. Thanks for sharing this mouth-watering recipe.
This is so good. Can you use GF flour or all oats to make it gluten free ?
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it out! If you do give it a go, let me know how it works out 🙂
I’m so impressed by your recipes (tried vegan brownies this am) and the way you lay them out! Any alternatives to the oats in this recipe? I’m gluten free and the oats contain gliadin which take them off the list too. Thanks!
Thanks, Roberta! I think you could get away with using a flax egg here – so use 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed instead of the oats.