Meat Free Monday One day a week can make a world of difference

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Lucy Parr
  • Serves: Makes 4 individual puddings
  • Preparation: 30
  • Cooking: 30-40
  • Ready: 70

The sweetly spiced sponge laced with sticky dates and topped with warm toffee sauce makes the perfect cosy and comforting pudding!

Ingredients

  • 100 g dates, stoned and chopped
  • 200 ml dairy-free milk
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 100 g dairy-free margarine
  • 60 g soft brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 125 g self-raising flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the sauce

  • 50 g golden syrup
  • 60 g soft brown sugar
  • 175 g dairy-free margarine or butter
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 50 g dairy-free cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and thoroughly grease 4 mini pudding moulds.

Add the dates to the dairy-free milk in a saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the dates are soft. Using an immersion blender or food processor, blitz until smooth, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda and set aside to cool.

Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla. Pour in the date and milk mixture, stirring to combine everything.

Variations: To make a darker and stickier pudding, use soft dark brown sugar in the sponge, and for the sauce use just 30 g of golden syrup along with 20 g of molasses.

Sift in the flour and spices. Gently mix to make a wet dough with no lumps of raw flour.

Half fill the pudding moulds and bake for 18-20 minutes until the sponge is set and golden.

Cool on a wire rack before removing the mould.

To make the sauce while the puddings are baking, melt the syrup, sugar, margarine, and vanilla together. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the dairy-free cream.

Leave to cool a little, then pour the sauce over the sponges to serve.

Additonal notes

Recipe courtesy of Meze Publishing

Taken from The Friendly Baker by Lucy Parr, published by Meze Publishing, £23

Photography © 2022 Paul Gregory

Food styling – Lucy Parr and Paul Gregory

“Sticky toffee pudding has almost mythical status in the pudding world, so I had to include my version in this book. To my mind, it is the essence of autumn in pudding form. The sweetly spiced sponge laced with sticky dates (although you’d never know they were there, as they’re blended to a pulp) and topped with warm toffee sauce makes the perfect cosy and comforting pudding.”

The Friendly Baker Cookbook Cover

Impact calculator

See the difference you can make

Calculate how you can have a positive impact by eating less meat and dairy ...
Participating people
Meat free days a week
For how long (years)?
Press enter or esc to cancel