If you’re anything like me, when you hear toffee pudding, then you would immediately think candy on top of a spoonable vegan pudding.
However, I’m hear to tell you that’s not it. Think less along the lines of pudding you eat from a cup and more like Jamaican bread pudding.
What is toffee pudding?
What toffee pudding actually is refers to a British dessert that is a sponge cake that is this covered and soaked with a toffee flavored sauce. It is often served with vanilla ice cream. The sponge itself should be light and fluffy.
While the exact history of toffee pudding is not agreed upon, it is known that it became popular in the 1970s and is still widely available from shops and stores in purchase today.
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Why You’ll Love Toffee Pudding
- Easy – It’s no secret that vegan caramel sauce can be difficult to make, but this toffee sauce and the cake itself is so easy!
- Lots of Flavor – It’s all simple pantry ingredients, but you will absolutely be wowed by the flavor (and texture!)
- Great for Parties – it’s seriously so good for on the go. The longer you allow the toffee sauce to soak up, the better it is. So make it the day before and no stress that day!
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Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
For the Date Sponge
- 1¼ cups packed pitted Medjool dates, (200g) roughly chopped
- 1 cup boiling water (240mL)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda divided
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter, (85g) softened but still cool
- ⅔ cup packed dark brown sugar (135g)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened plain vegan yogurt, (80g) at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, (210g) spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
For the Toffee Sauce
- ½ cup vegan butter (113g)
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (200g)
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk, (240ml) well-shaken
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
For Serving
- Vegan vanilla ice cream or softly whipped vegan cream
- Flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
Make the Date Mixture
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease an 8-inch (20cm) square baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to help lift out the pudding.
- Place the chopped dates in a heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water over them, add ½ teaspoon of the baking soda, and stir. Set aside for 12–15 minutes, until the dates are very soft.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the dates and soaking water into a mostly smooth purée. A few tiny flecks of date are fine. Set aside to cool until warm rather than piping hot.
Make the Sponge
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the vegan butter and dark brown sugar with an electric mixer for 2–3 minutes, until lighter, creamy, and slightly fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vegan yogurt and vanilla. Beat until combined. Note: The mixture may look slightly separated at this stage; that is okay.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, nutmeg, if using, and the remaining ½ teaspoon baking soda.
- Add one-third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low just until mostly incorporated. Mix in half of the warm date purée. Continue alternating the dry ingredients and date purée, ending with the dry ingredients.Note: Use a flexible spatula to gently fold the batter a few times, making sure no pockets of flour remain. Avoid vigorously mixing or beating the finished batter. It should be thick, soft, and easily spreadable—not pourable like pancake batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35–42 minutes, or until the top is risen and set, the center springs back when lightly pressed, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Place the pan on a wire rack and let the pudding rest for 10 minutes.
Make the Toffee Sauce
- While the pudding bakes, combine the vegan butter, brown sugar, coconut milk, molasses, and sea salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the butter has melted and the mixture is completely smooth.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 8–12 minutes, stirring frequently, until glossy and thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Coconut milk can take a few minutes longer to reduce than vegan heavy cream.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. The sauce will thicken substantially as it cools, so take it off the heat while it still pours easily.
Sauce and Serve
- While the pudding is still warm, use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes across the surface, stopping about halfway through the sponge rather than piercing all the way to the bottom. Slowly spoon approximately ¾ cup (180ml) of the warm toffee sauce over the pudding. Give the sauce a few minutes to settle into the surface before adding more. Let the pudding rest for 10–15 minutes.
- Cut into nine thick squares. Serve warm with additional toffee sauce and vegan vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Finish with a small pinch of flaky sea salt, if desired.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes. Make sure the vegan butter and yogurt you are using is safe for your allergens. For the flour, you can use a gluten-free 1:1 blend. As far as the coconut milk,
Once it has cooled for a few minutes, you can cut the dish into 9 squares or other desired size. Serve as is or add options toppings like vegan whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, candied nuts, and fresh berries to it.
This can be eaten however you wish – some will prefer it warm, especially freshly out of the oven; while others will enjoy this dish served chilled.
We recommend storing in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.
Yes! You can make this the day before serving. For best results, we don’t recommend making to serve earlier than that. However, this will be good for a few days after.
Hi, I would like to make this recipe, however, I don’t eat any oil or dairy. I know, I know – I should just skip this recipe. But I’d really, really like to try it. Could I substitute applesauce or pumpkin puree or something in place of the butter?
Thanks
You could do this in the cake (either option) noting that it would definitely be more dense. I don’t have a clear option in the sauce as we’ve never tried to do that….just thinking off the top of my head, I do wonder if an aquafaba would work but I literally can’t recommend that at this time.
This if OFF THE CHAIN good! The toffee sauce rocks and the sponge is so delicate.
Awww, thank you so much!
I tried the vegan taffy pudding, however, I didn’t make the sauce too much sugar me and I also only use the dates as my sugar source, and it tasted great
Glad you enjoyed what you made!
What can we use to blend the dates if we don’t have an immersion blender?
food processor or a high speed blender
This was absolutely fantastic! I’ve seen sticky toffee pudding on fancy cooking shows but thought it was out of reach due to our dietary needs. This recipe hit it out of the park. I made the following substitutions: used Bob’s red mill 1:1 gluten free flour and coconut oil in place of the vegan butter. Thank you for including weight measurements as this actually helped me fix a mistake I made in reading the recipe (weight did not match so I reread the recipe and caught my error). Our whole family loved this recipe and it will definitely be something I will make for guests in the future.
This is amazing! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try, we’re happy to hear that the whole family enjoyed it! We really appreciate you sharing your experience here and the substitutions you used. We’re positive other readers will find it helpful!