Irish sticky toffee pudding

A moist date pudding with Dutch-process cocoa and Baileys, finished with a salted toffee sauce. Serves 6.

Ingredients

• Pudding: 125 g butter
• 150 g light muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 1 tablespoon black treacle
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 60 g Dutch-process cocoa
• 150 g Medjool dates, chopped
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 100 ml Baileys Irish Cream
• 180 ml water
• vanilla ice cream, for serving
• Toffee sauce: 100 g unsalted butter
• 150 g dark muscovado sugar
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a generous pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160 °C (140 °C fan). Grease a 20 cm round ovenproof dish.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly mix in the golden syrup, treacle, eggs and vanilla on a low speed.
4. Sift the self-raising flour and cocoa together, then fold into the mixture on low speed.
5. Simmer the 180 ml water with the chopped dates for a few minutes, take off the heat, then stir in the Baileys and the bicarbonate of soda — it will foam up.
6. Fold the hot date and Baileys mixture into the batter, pour into the prepared dish and bake for 45–50 minutes, until firm and slightly springy. Test with a skewer, looking for a few moist crumbs, rather than judging by colour: the batter is dark.
7. For the sauce: melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup until the sugar dissolves. Add the cream, vanilla and salt, and simmer for 3 minutes until thickened. For extra Irish flavour, stir 1–2 tablespoons of Baileys into the finished sauce off the heat (optional; the alcohol won’t cook off once the pan is off the heat).
8. Drizzle the toffee sauce over the warm pudding and serve with vanilla ice cream.

The Baileys goes in after the dates have simmered, off the heat; prolonged boiling would drive off the alcohol and mute the cream-liqueur taste.

The water is 100 ml less than in the original recipe (180 ml instead of 280 ml), matching the Baileys added, so the batter’s hydration and the baking time stay the same.