Sticky toffee pudding

23 Jun

Photos can’t do justice to the marvel that is Beulah’s sticky toffee pudding. Of all the wonderful dishes she made, this one is the most beloved. As long as I’ve lived in the UK, Adam has been “chasing the dragon” in restaurants and pubs across the UK trying to recreate that first hit of his mum’s version, without success.

This recipe was a closely guarded secret, though Beulah did disclose that her version did not include dates (spoiler, she used apricots). So it was a happy moment when I discovered it on a piece of paper tucked underneath recipe cards in her little file box. Sharing it here is a fitting tribute to her culinary talents.

Sticky toffee pudding

For the pudding:

  • 175g (6oz) dried apricots, very finely chopped
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 300 ml boiling water
  • 50g butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 50g vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 225g flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

For the topping:

  • 215g dark muscovado sugar
  • 115g butter
  • 6 Tb double cream
  1. Place the apricots in a bowl with the baking soda and pour the boiling water over them. Leave to cool thoroughly.
  2. Combine all the topping ingredients in a small pan and stir over a gentle heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Bring to a boil and simmer for three minutes.
  3. Pour mixture into two buttered 900ml (1 ½ pint) pudding basins.
  4. Cream the butter in a bowl with the caster and vanilla sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.
  5. Sift the flour with the baking powder and fold in.
  6. Stir the apricot mixture into the batter and divide between the two pudding basins.
  7. Cover each basin with foil and secure tightly with string, leaving long ends. Knot these to make a handle across the basin so that it can be easily lifted out of the steamer.
  8. Place the bowls on trivets in a large pan and surround with enough hot water to come halfway up.
  9. Cover and steam for 1 ½ hours, checking every 20 minutes or so that the pan has not boiled dry and topping up with boiling water.
  10. Lift out of the water and turn the puddings out onto a warmed serving dish.

Serving suggestion: Make an extra portion of sauce to serve alongside.

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