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This ultra moist sticky toffee pudding recipe is made with browned butter, tender dates, and warm spices, then drenched in a rich homemade toffee sauce. The browned butter brings that nutty, caramel flavor while soaked dates keep every bite soft and plush. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and extra toffee sauce on top!
For more incredible dessert recipes, make my bread pudding with vanilla sauce and gingerbread bundt cake!
The last time I had sticky toffee pudding was in London in 2013. It was my first time across the pond and I was excited to try any and everything! I’d never heard of sticky toffee pudding, but the waiter at the pub highly suggested I get it. So I did. And it was epic.
If you’ve never heard of sticky toffee pudding, it’s a classic British dessert (I believe it’s called sticky date pudding in New Zealand) that’s essentially a soft date cake with a rich toffee sauce poured on top. This is just the high level summary and does the cake little justice – because it’s SUPER delicious and honestly one of my favorite desserts.
Fast forward 12 years later, one of my readers asked me to create my own rendition. I did TONS of research to make this into the most perfect sticky toffee pudding I could ever create.
And to say that this sticky toffee pudding is the BEST – it’s a sheer understatement. There’s browned butter, a touch of molasses in the cake and honey in the sauce, the perfect amount of spices, and that toffee sauce just sings with buttery vanilla sweet caramel flavor. You MUST try this. Each bite melts in your mouth with buttery richness that I can’t adequately put into words.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Incredibly soft, moist cake thanks to the dates, browned butter, and a touch of sour cream. Every bite is plush and tender – it practically melts in your mouth!
- No stand mixer needed! Just a mixing bowls, a whisk, and a blender.
- The toffee sauce is EVERYTHING! Rich, glossy, buttery, and soak-into-the-cake good. People will 100% ask for extra. And don’t worry, I’ve got you covered there too (I always save some for pouring on top).
Key Ingredients
(full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card)
- Dates are the backbone of sticky toffee pudding. They add natural sweetness, deep caramel flavor, and moisture, giving the cake its signature soft, almost gooey texture.
- Whole Milk (for soaking the dates) softens and plumps the dates while helping them blend smoothly into the batter. The milk adds richness and ensures the pudding stays tender instead of dense.
- Baking Soda (in the soaked dates) helps soften the dates by breaking down their pectin, creating a smoother purée. It also provides gentle lift in the cake, contributing to the light, spongy crumb sticky toffee pudding is known for.
- Sour Cream adds moisture and richness and keeps the cake plush and balanced, preventing it from tasting overly sweet or heavy.
- All-Purpose Flour provides structure while still keeping the crumb soft. Just enough strength to hold the moisture-rich batter without making the cake dense.
- Molasses deepens the flavor with warm, bittersweet notes. Don’t skip this, it’s so good! And if you’re worried about not having any other use for it, make my gingerbread loaf next!
- Dark Brown Sugar adds moisture and a rich toffee-like sweetness thanks to its high molasses content. It helps create that soft, sticky texture throughout the cake.
- Vanilla Bean Paste rounds out the sweetness and adds aromatic depth.You can also use vanilla extract instead.
- Spices (Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Nutmeg) add warmth and balance to the sweetness.
- Honey (in the toffee sauce) adds natural sweetness and a glossy finish while enhancing the caramel flavor.
Substitutions
- A lot of sticky toffee pudding recipes use boiling water to soak the dates, but I like to use hot milk. It gives it a richer flavor. However, if you prefer hot water, you can use that instead.
- Traditionally, golden syrup is used in the rich toffee sauce instead of honey – so if you have golden syrup, use that instead!
- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract or 2 whole vanilla pods scraped into the hot milk mixture works perfectly.
How To Make Sticky Toffee Pudding
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
Make The Date Puree and Browned Butter
Step 1: In a small saucepan over medium low heat, add whole milk and warm for about 5-7 minutes, until just warm throughout. (If using pitted dates, be sure to remove the bits before chopping up!) Add chopped dates, molasses, black tea bags, and baking soda. Stir together, remove from heat and allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes.
Step 2: While the date mixture is sitting, brown butter in a skillet. Add butter to a skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add milk powder, whisking constantly, and continue to cook until the butter comes foamy and golden brown (it should also have a fragrant, nutty smell – yum!) Let that cool for about ten minutes.
Step 3: After 30 minutes, remove the black tea bags from the date mixture and pour everything into a food processor (or immersion blender) and blend until smooth, about 30-40 seconds. Set aside to cool.
Step 4: Pour browned butter in a large bowl (make sure to get those browned bits, that’s where all of the flavor is), add dark brown sugar and oil. Whisk together for about 1 minute, until the sugar begins to dissolve. Add in vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract), eggs, and sour cream and continue to whisk together until combined, about 30 seconds.
Make the Cake Batter and Bake
Step 5: In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – all purpose flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together until just combined, about 15 seconds. Then add all of the date puree and continue to mix until just combined, about 20 seconds. Add the remainder of the flour mixture and fold into the cake batter with a rubber spatula, until smooth and no patches of flour remain, about 20-30 seconds.
Step 6: Pour into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake in the preheat oven to 55-65 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Step 7: While the cake is baking, make the sticky toffee sauce. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add brown sugar to the melted butter along with honey and whisk together. Cook for about 3 minutes, until slightly bubbling, then add heavy cream. Mix together and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for about 20 minutes, until slightly thickened and darkened in color.
Step 8: After the cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, poke several holes into the cake, going all the way down to the bottom. Pour about half of the toffee sauce on top of the cake. Allow it to seep into the cake, about 2 minutes, then pour half of the remaining sauce on top. Let the cake sit for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and serve. (It’ll still be pretty warm so handle carefully .. but the cake is best served warm). Serve the warm cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or vanilla custard sauce and drizzle remaining toffee sauce on top!
Pro Tips
- Let the dates sit in the milk for the full 30 minutes, making sure that they’re submerged in the milk. This is key to getting that silky texture when you add them to blend in the food processor.
- It’s integral to line the baking pan with parchment paper. This allows for easy removal after baking. Once the toffee sauce is added, the cake can become very difficult to remove from the pan. So, be sure not to skip lining the baking pan first!
- Blend the dates until smooth – it’s ok if there’s a few chunks here and there, but it should be mostly smooth. This gives the sticky toffee pudding its smooth texture without being lumpy.
- Pour the toffee sauce on top of the cake in increments. Don’t pour all of the sauce on top of the cake at once. Pouring a little at a time allows for max absorption.
- The cake may sink a bit in the middle after pouring the toffee sauce on top – this is totally normal!
Recipe FAQs
The cake itself is made with dates, brown sugar, and molasses, which create a toffee-like flavor. The “toffee” comes from the buttery brown sugar sauce poured over the cake after baking.
No. The dates melt into the batter and provide moisture and caramel sweetness without a noticeable date flavor or texture.
Soaking the dates softens them and allows them to blend smoothly into the batter. This step is key for creating the tender, moist crumb sticky toffee pudding is known for.
Reheat individual portions in the microwave for 20–30 seconds or warm the cake in the oven (300°F) until heated through. Warm the toffee sauce in a small saucepan over low before pouring over the cake.
Over-mixing the batter or using too much flour can make the cake dense. Be sure to gently fold the batter and measure flour accurately for the best texture.
More Holiday Desserts
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Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe
Equipment
- Food Processor or Immersion Blender
Ingredients
To soak the dates:
- 2 cups (300 g) Medjool Dates, (pitted and chopped)
- 2 Black Tea Bags, (optional)
- 1 1/4 cups (300 g) Whole Milk
- 3 tbsp (63 g) Molasses
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Date Cake
- 3/4 cup (168 g) Salted Butter
- 2 tbsp Milk Powder, (optional)
- 3 tbsp (42 g) Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup (220 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste , (or vanilla extract)
- 3 large (150 g) Eggs, (room temperature)
- 1/3 cup (80 g) Sour Cream, (room temperature)
- 2 1/2 cups (313 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
Sticky Toffee Sauce
- 3/4 cup (168 g) Salted Butter
- 1 cup (220 g) Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup (84 g) Honey
- 1 1/2 cups (360 g) Heavy Cream
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium low heat, add whole milk and warm for about 5-7 minutes, until warm throughout (not boiling). (If using pitted dates, be sure to remove the bits before chopping up!) Add chopped dates, molasses, black tea bags, and baking soda. Stir together, remove from heat and allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes. 1 1/4 cups Whole Milk 2 cups Medjool Dates 3 tbsp Molasses 2 Black Tea Bags 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- While the date mixture is sitting, brown butter in a skillet. Add butter to a skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add milk powder, whisking constantly, and continue to cook until the butter comes foamy and golden brown (it should also have a fragrant, nutty smell – yum!) Let that cool for about ten minutes. 3/4 cup Salted Butter 2 tbsp Milk Powder
- After 30 minutes, remove the black tea bags from the date mixture and pour everything into a food processor (or immersion blender) and blend until smooth, about 30-40 seconds. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper so that there's about 2 inches overhang – this allows for easy removal from the pan after it's baked.
- Pour browned butter in a large bowl (make sure to get those browned bits, that’s where all of the flavor is), add vegetable oil and dark brown sugar. Whisk together for about 1 minute, until the sugar begins to dissolve. Add in vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract), eggs, and sour cream and continue to whisk together until combined, about 30 seconds. 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar 1 tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste 3 large Eggs 1/3 cup Sour Cream
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – all purpose flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together until just combined, about 15 seconds. Then add all of the date puree and continue to mix until just combined, about 20 seconds. 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour 1 tsp Ground Ginger 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp Nutmeg 2 tsp Baking Powder 3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- Add the remainder of the flour mixture and fold into the cake batter with a rubber spatula, until smooth and no patches of flour remain, about 20-30 seconds. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake in the preheat oven to 55-65 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- While the cake is baking, make the sticky toffee sauce. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add brown sugar to the melted butter along with honey and whisk together. Cook for about 3 minutes, until slightly bubbling, then add heavy cream. Mix together and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for about 20 minutes, until slightly thickened and darkened in color. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. 3/4 cup Salted Butter 1 cup Brown Sugar 1/4 cup Honey 1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- After the cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, poke several holes into the cake, going all the way down to the bottom. Pour about half of the toffee sauce on top of the cake. Allow it to seep into the cake, about 2 minutes, then pour half of the remaining sauce on top. Let the cake sit for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and serve. (It’ll still be pretty warm so handle carefully .. but the cake is best served warm). Serve the warm cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or vanilla custard sauce and drizzle remaining toffee sauce on top!
Notes
- Let the dates sit in the milk for the full 30 minutes, making sure that they’re submerged in the milk. This is key to getting that silky texture when you add them to blend in the food processor.
- It’s integral to line the baking pan with parchment paper. This allows for easy removal after baking. Once the toffee sauce is added, the cake can become very difficult to remove from the pan. So, be sure not to skip lining the baking pan first!
- Blend the dates until smooth – it’s ok if there’s a few chunks here and there, but it should be mostly smooth. This gives the sticky toffee pudding its smooth texture without being lumpy.
- Pour the toffee sauce on top of the cake in increments. Don’t pour all of the sauce on top of the cake at once. Pouring a little at a time allows for max absorption.
- The cake may sink a bit in the middle after baking – this is totally normal!
- A lot of sticky toffee pudding recipes use boiling water to soak the dates, but I like to use hot milk. It gives it a richer flavor. However, if you prefer hot water, you can use that instead.
- Traditionally, golden syrup is used in the rich toffee sauce instead of honey – so if you have golden syrup, use that instead!
- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract or whole vanilla pods scraped into the hot milk mixture works perfectly.
- The black tea bags are optional but do add a lovely depth of flavor!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was SO GOOD! Made it with chai black tea and really- just so yum. Will definitely be making this again.
Thank you so much!
This sticky toffee pudding has more flavour depth than others I’ve tried. Sadly I used muffin tins and didn’t adjust the time or watch it close enough, I burnt most of them. I will definitely be using this recipe again though, as the few that didn’t burn were much better then the other recipe I’d used.
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it!