Another food dream turned into reality

From The Best Thing I Ever Ate : English Sticky Toffee Pudding

I decided that tonight’s the night my sticky English toffee pudding dreams will become a reality. I went grocery shopping for my ingredients this morning feeling excited and inspired. Remember when I even wrote a silly poem about how I crave and dream of it? Well now, I can sleep in peace because I finally got to taste it. I so swear, I couldn’t concentrate on plating it nicely. I just wanted to taste it right away. I was right in decreasing the sugar content in the cake because the dates are already sweet. It is very moist and eating it with vanilla ice cream is just like eating my peach cobbler ala mode. Again, this is another knock off but at least, I have an idea on how it taste. I guess it's safe to say "on to the next challenge now!"

English Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients:

For the cake

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup pitted dates

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar minus 1 tablespoon

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Toffee Sauce

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup packed light brown sugar minus 1 tablespoon

1 cup heavy cream, whipped (I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack. Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the pudding. Spread evenly on top. Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. Serve immediately spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

It is so delicious and it may sound so rich and cloying but with a little modification in the recipe, it is a dessert that I wouldn't mind making and eating again. I wonder how bourbon flavored ice cream tastes!

Recipe source :
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/english-sticky-toffee-pudding-recipe/index.html