Some desserts never go out of style. Sticky toffee pudding is like the little black dress of desserts, if little black dresses were more fun.

This dessert is warm, gooey, and unfussy. It can be made ahead, is impressive, and each person can decide how much sauce they want (all of it).

Also, any leftover sauce (lol) can be saved to serve over ice cream, as a dip for fruit, or to sneakily eat with a spoon.

Makes: 1 very thick 8 inch cake

Ingredients:

• Cake
  • 2 cups dates, pits removed (careful here, dental work is expensive)
  • 1 1/3 cups boiling water
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tsp molasses
  • 1 tsp vanilla
• Sauce
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Make cake
   • Preheat oven to 350 degrees f
   • In a medium bowl, combine dates (2 cups), boiling water (1 1/3 cups), and baking soda (1 tsp) – set this aside for the dates to soak while you prepare everything else
   • Butter a deep 8″ baking dish, and if you want to be really safe, line the bottom with parchment
   • In another medium bowl, stir together flour (2 cups), salt (1/2 tsp), baking powder (2 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp), ginger (1/2 tsp), and nutmeg (1/4 tsp)
   • Add butter (1/3 cup) and brown sugar (3/4 cup) to the bowl of a stand-mixer, cream together
   • Add eggs (3), to butter mixture and mix in thoroughly
   • By now, the date mixture should be partly cooled. Pour it into either a food processor or a blender, and pulse a few times – you want the dates to be chopped up but there to still be some texture
   • Add the dry ingredients and the date mixture, alternating, 1/3 at a time, to the butter mixture and mix just until combined
   • Pour into the prepared cake pan, take a moment to appreciate that you followed my suggestion to use a deep dish, and bake for about 50-60 minutes, until the edges start to pull away and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
2. Make sauce
   • Heat the butter (1/2 cup) in a medium saucepan – we are browning the butter, which means you will melt it and then keep heating it up for a few more minutes until it starts to get brown bits in it and smells a bit toasty (watch it carefully, a moment’s inattention is the difference between nicely browned butter and a burnt mess)
   • Let the butter cool off briefly so it doesn’t spit so badly when you add the next ingredients
   • Add brown sugar (1/2 cup), salt (1/4 tsp) and cream (1 cup) and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly
   • Simmer for 2 minutes, the remove from heat and add vanilla (1 tsp)
   • Set aside to cool – it will thicken as it cools

Notes:

• You can definitely make the cake a day or two in advance, just wrap it tightly after it cools and store it on the counter. It also freezes well.
• The sauce can also be made well in advance, it will happily wait in your fridge tightly covered. You may find it gradually disappears, one spoonful at a time, this is normal. When you are ready to use it, just warm up whatever is left to room temperature.