There’s no sweeter way to keep warm in winter than with this Easy Sticky Date Pudding served with gorgeous butterscotch sauce
The best winter dessert
Sticky date pudding is hands-down my favourite winter dessert! I think it beats a warm mud cake and perhaps even a Soufflé or Chocolate Fondant.
The first time I tried Sticky Date Pudding was when I made it myself several years ago. I was flipping through a magazine when the photo of the pudding caught my attention. It was served upside down with a perfect scoop of ice cream on top and it had golden caramel sauce oozing down. It was food porn at its finest.
A dessert filled with dates never appealed to me and I’m not a big fan of puddings. This was probably why it took me forever to discover how good Sticky Date Puddings are!
The pudding is surprisingly light and fluffy. The taste of the dates are not overwhelming and those that don’t like dates will probably like this dessert.
The star of this show is the butterscotch sauce it’s creamy, sweet, buttery and just pure liquid gold! The magic happens when the warm ‘butterscotch’ sauce is poured all over the pudding and the ice cream. It’s a match made in heaven!
What I love about this Sticky Date pudding is that it’s not sickeningly sweet and it doesn’t only taste good after the first few bites. It’s ultra-delicious from the first spoonful to the very last crumb!
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Home is where the heart is
Sticky date pudding is my all-time favourite winter dessert but I never order it. Even if it’s freezing and that’s the only warm dessert on the menu I still wouldn’t order it!
WHY WHY WHY???
It’s because I’ve honestly never tasted any Sticky Date Pudding that is better than my homemade ones. This sounds really cocky I know but it’s the truth and my family and friends would 100% back me up on this.
A few years ago my husband, Tomasi, and I got invited to his friend’s place for dinner. They were a lovely couple with two toddlers with another one on the way. I made these Sticky Date Puddings for our dessert and packed them along with us in our car.
When we arrived Tomasi’s friend wasn’t home because he was bushwalking with his children. His wife looked frazzled like she wasn’t expecting us but welcomed us in.
Besides the awkward start, the night turned out really well. When it was time to serve the sticky date pudding I just zapped the puddings and the sauce in their microwave. Their children absolutely loved them and asked for seconds to which their father firmly replied NO! He sent the children to another room whilst he indulged in another pudding himself.
He then made us read his children stories before their bedtime which I thought was a little strange. Tomasi’s saw the look on my face and wanted to laugh and this made me want to laugh but we had to control ourselves as we had to finish reading ‘The Three Little Pigs’.
Easy Sticky Date Pudding
Don’t be put off with the steps involved in making this dessert. It’s definitely not a hard dessert to make as the steps are straightforward. There’s little room to mess up as it’s a very forgiving recipe.
The butterscotch sauce is probably the easiest dessert sauce you’ll ever make. We basically just throw everything into a saucepan! I told you it’s a magic sauce, so easy to make but yet so amazingly delicious!
Sticky date puddings are a great dessert to serve at a dinner party as you can make it in advance. Just warm the pudding and the sauce in the microwave, trust me no one will be able to tell!
Ingredients for Easy Sticky Date Pudding
For the pudding:
Dates – You certainly don’t need to use the delicious and expensive Medjool dates for this! I used the cheap dried dates found near the dried fruit section in the supermarket.
Plain flour is also known as ‘all-purpose’ flour, it has no leavening agent added.
Bi-carb soda (Baking soda) is placed with boiling water to soften the dates. Baking powder is also used to make the pudding fluffy and light.
For the Butterscotch sauce:
Berries (optional) – Strawberries or any berries would go lovely with this dessert and make it look pretty.
Vanilla Ice cream (optional) – The butterscotch sauce goes insanely good with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
How to make Easy Sticky Date Pudding
Step by step guide with photos
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) or for fan-forced ovens 160°C (300°F). Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tin with butter or oil.
In a microwave-safe bowl add in the roughly chopped dates, bi-carb (baking soda) and the boiled water. Give it a quick stir and cover the bowl, leaving the dates to soften for 10 minutes. Use a fork or a potato masher to mash the dates. If the dates haven’t softened, place the bowl in the microwave and zap it for 30 seconds before mashing it again, it’s okay if it’s lumpy. Set the date mixture aside.
Sieve together the flour, salt and baking powder together into a bowl and set these dry ingredients aside. In another large bowl cream the butter and the brown sugar together with a hand beater or stand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs into the mixture one at a time mixing thoroughly in between. Pour in the date mixture and stir to combine then fold in the dry ingredients, fold the batter until there are no dry bits left.
Baking the puddings
Place 1/4 cup of batter into each hole, once done, tap it against the table a few times. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Start on the butterscotch sauce when there are 10 minutes of the baking time remaining.
For the butterscotch sauce, place all the ingredients into a saucepan and cook on medium heat. As soon as the mixture starts to bubble decrease the heat to very low and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
As soon as the puddings are out of the ovens poke several holes into them with a skewer. Pour half a tablespoon of butterscotch sauce over each pudding and leave for 10 minutes in the tin to allow the puddings to soak up the sauce. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, seasonal berries and more butterscotch sauce.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The puddings can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Are you feeling cold like I am? warm yourself up with this delicious BEEF MOUSSAKA or if you this lovely flavoured PUMPKIN AND BEAN SOUP
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Easy Sticky Date Pudding
Ingredients
For the date mixture
- 250 gm dried dates (chopped roughly) (NOTE 1)
- 1 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda) (NOTE 2)
- 1 cup boiled water
For the pudding
- 1½ cups plain flour (sifted) (NOTE 3)
- ¼ tsp salt (sifted)
- 1 tsp baking powder (sifted)
- 100 gm butter (soften)
- ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- melted butter to grease
For the butterscotch sauce
- 50 gm butter
- 1 cup thickened cream
- ¾ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Optional toppings
- ice cream or whipped cream (highly recommended)
- berries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) or for fan-forced ovens 160°C (300°F). Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tin with butter or oil.
- In a microwave-safe bowl add in the roughly chopped dates, bi-carb (baking soda) and the boiled water. Give it a quick stir and cover the bowl, leaving the dates to soften for 10 minutes. Use a fork or a potato masher to mash the dates. If the dates haven't softened, place the bowl in the microwave and zap it for 30 seconds before mashing it again, it's okay if it's lumpy. Set the date mixture aside.
- Sieve together the flour, salt and baking powder together into a bowl and set these dry ingredients aside. In another large bowl cream the butter and the brown sugar together with a hand beater or stand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs into the mixture one at a time mixing thoroughly in between. Pour in the date mixture and stir to combine then fold in the dry ingredients, fold the batter until there are no dry bits left.
- Place 1/4 cup of batter into each hole, once done, tap it against the table a few times. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Start on the butterscotch sauce when there are 10 minutes of the baking time remaining.
- For the butterscotch sauce, place all the ingredients into a saucepan and cook on medium heat. As soon as the mixture starts to bubble decrease the heat to very low and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- As soon as the puddings are out of the ovens poke several holes into them with a skewer. Pour half a tablespoon of butterscotch sauce over each pudding and leave for 10 minutes in the tin to allow the puddings to soak up the sauce. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, seasonal berries and more butterscotch sauce.
