Sticky Toffee "Pudding"

I am afraid of baking cakes. I can never seem to get them right.  Usually, they come out too overdone on the outside and underdone inside.  Oven malfunctions?  My inexperience?  I was never totally sure.  Therefore, it was with some trepidation that I cracked open Rose's Heavenly Cakes in search of a recipe to serve at our Redcoat Appreciation Party (before 4th of July, of course).  I'm lucky enough to have traveled to England, and while there I had a fantastic toffee cake dessert, referred to as "pudding".  Upon a brief perusal of Beranbaum's book, I found that the "Sticky Toffee 'Pudding'" recipe fit the bill, so it was time to take a deep breath and preheat the oven.  Here goes nothing!



Fixins:
For the batter

• 1 cup stout beer (I used Guinness)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 6 pitted dates (tough to find!)
• 6 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1 cup & 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the butterscotch toffee sauce

• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 vanilla bean
• 16 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp salt

Coat the bottom of the baking pan with shortening and line with parchment paper.  So far so good, right?  Now bring the beer to boiling, remove from heat, then mix in baking powder.  Watch out, it'll get foamy!  Pour the beer mixture over the pitted dates, then set aside to cool.  Once room temperature, place the dates and a little beer mixture in the food processor and blend into a paste.  Slowly add the rest of the liquid while blending.  Mine never became a paste - it stayed pretty watery and kept foaming up, so I was feeling pretty nervous at this point.  Next, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Separately whisk the eggs, then gradually add them to the butter and sugar.  Mix up the rest of the dry batter ingredients, then alternate adding that and the date mixture to the wet ingredients.  Pour the resulting batter into the baking pan, say a little prayer, and place the pan in the oven.  I think mine baked for 25-30 minutes, but you better believe I watched it like a hawk!  Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before attempting to remove the cake from the pan.  The hard part is done, but this recipe isn't finished.  Now make the toffee sauce!

Place the brown sugar in a saucepan.  Split open the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the sugar.  Rub them with your fingers.  I assume this is to release the super-flavorful oils within, but I really don't know.  Save the pod for now.  Add the butter, and bring this mixture to a boil while stirring.  Remove from heat, then stir in the rest of the ingredients and the vanilla pod.  Remove the pod before serving.  The recipe also calls for creating a pecan and creme fraiche topping, but I was tired, so I scooped some vanilla ice cream on top and called it a day.  Phew!

Result:

TA-DA!  The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding was GOOD!  The cake was baked perfectly, so maybe my oven and I have finally reached an understanding.  I've never had dates before, but they definitely defined the flavor of this cake.  I think the best part of this dessert was the lemon juice in the toffee sauce.  It made my palette do a little dance, which I was not expecting.  The flavors are strong, complex, and comforting.  

Repeat:

I would, but only on special occasions.  The flavors of this dessert made me think of autumn and winter holidays, so maybe this would be a nice addition to the holiday table.  After all that work, you'll need a holiday to recover ;)

Now that I've conquered this cake, perhaps I'll venture on to bigger and better cakes.  What kind of cake would you like to see on the blog?