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coffee and cardamom sticky toffee pudding

Coffee and Cardamom Sticky Toffee Pudding

dishbyrish
This coffee and cardamom sticky toffee pudding is dark, sticky and rich. With notes of cardamom and coffee, topped with an espresso caramel.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine british, Middle Eastern
Servings 10 people

Equipment

  • 31x20x7cm rectangle tray see blogpost for link

Ingredients
  

For the sponge:

  • 200 g pitted dates see blogpost for more information
  • 400 ml boiling water
  • 120 g unsalted butter
  • 75 g white granulated sugar
  • 70 g black treacle sold as molasses in the US
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 3 tsp cardamom
  • 275 ml coffee made with 3 shots of espresso and the remainder milk (see notes for instant coffee)
  • 300 g self raising flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder not bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

For the caramel:

  • 100 g white granulated sugar
  • 70 g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp black treacle
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 400 ml double cream
  • 2 shots espresso or 2tsp instant coffee
  • 1/4 tsp salt

For serving:

  • Ice cream either vanilla or coffee will work well

Instructions
 

For the sponge:

  • Preheat the oven to 140’C fan/160’C conventional. Prepare your tray by greasing with butter and lining with baking paper/parchment paper
  • Start by placing the pitted dates and boiling water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until almost all the water has evaporated
  • Allow the mixture to cool before placing it into a food processor. Blitz until it forms a thick date paste, it shouldn’t be completely smooth
  • At the same time, prepare the shots of espresso or instant coffee and top it up with milk to produce 275ml of coffee
  • Place the melted butter, sugar, black treacle, vanilla, and cardamom into a mixing bowl. Whisk till it forms a smooth dark mixture. This will be the wet mix
  • Then add the coffee and the date paste and whisk once more till incorporated
  • Place the self raising flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and briefly mix
  • Sieve this into the wet mix, then whisk once more until incorporated. Finish by folding with a spatula to ensure no dry flour remains
  • Pour the sponge batter into the tray and use a spatula, palette knife, or the back of a spoon to spread it out into an even layer
  • Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow the sponge to cool in the tray for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely. However if serving at the same time, it does not need to cool completely and can be sliced warm

For the caramel:

  • Simply place all the ingredients into a deep saucepan over a medium-low heat. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted. It will form a light brown mixture
  • Turn the heat up to medium and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Whisk continuously throughout. The mixture will bubble up and rise so it’s worth doing this in a deeper saucepan. Whisk for around 7-10 minutes or until a dark brown caramel has formed and the consistency has thickened
  • Allow to cool slightly before serving, it should be served whilst warm

To serve:

  • Place a slice of the sponge, pour over the warm caramel, and top with a scoop of coffee/vanilla ice cream

Notes

  1. To use instant coffee for the sponge, dissolve 6tsp of instant coffee in 150ml of water, then top with another 125ml milk to make the 275ml of coffee
  2. For vegan substitutes, see blogpost
  3. For information on the type of dates used, see blogpost
  4. For information regarding the baking tray, see blogpost
Keyword christmas, christmas desserts, coffee, coffee and cardamom, sticky toffee, sticky toffee pudding, traditional british desserts