Sticky Toffee Pudding

I promised you cake. I also promised that you'd have it last weekend. I'm obviously not very at keeping promises (but I'm working on it). I'm making it up to you now by giving you my most favorite cake in the whole wide world, even though it's not the cake I promised originally (I'm hoping that by sharing my favorite recipe, you'll forgive me for not giving you the other cake).

You see, I was going to make my hubby a cake. It was going to be filled with coconut and pecans and caramel and be in the shape of one of his most favorite things. Sadly, that did not happen. You see, I forgot about inviting his 13-year-old sister to stay Friday night and promising his 9-year-old sister that i would go see her on Saturday and making plans with my mum on Sunday. It was a busy and exhausting weekend, so I did not make cake. I will make it though for our anniversary later this month as a special treat just for him (and of course I'll share it with all of you).

Back to Sticky Toffee Pudding. I don't remember the first time I heard of this cake. I don't remember what initially drew me in. I'm not a pudding fan, and not being English, I just assumed it was like Jello pudding. How wrong was I! It's not that kind of pudding at all (you can look here for a breakdown of what the British call puddings). It's stocky and sweet and best served very warm with either some custard or lightly whipped cream or even vanilla ice cream. Obviously, I'm not picky and will eat it straight from the pan with nothing on top or any of the three I just mentioned. It's like Green Eggs & Ham. I will eat it here or there. I will eat it anywhere! Definitely one of those desserts I could eat after supper every night.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Recipe from All Recipes, adapted by multiple users from the site

1 3/4 cups dates, pitted and chopped (I used plain old raisins)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/8 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups boiling water to cover

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl combine the dates and baking soda. Pour enough boiling water over the dates to just cover them.
3. Cream 1/3 cup of butter with the white sugar until light. Beat in the eggs and mix well to combine.
4. Add the flour and date mixture (including water) to the egg mixture and fold to combine. Pour the batter into one 8 inch round baking pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool, slice and serve with warm caramel sauce.
6. To Make Caramel Sauce: In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla and 1/3 cup butter. Cook over medium heat and bring to boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use immediately (you can do like I did and use the extra caramel sauce to top the slices of pudding).

Lady Rhubarb Strikes Again

I love rhubarb. Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you that I'm a rhubarb freak. Rhubarb tart? Yes please. Rhubarb jam? Definitely! Rhubarb swizzle stick in a rhubarb flavored soda? Uh...sure. My best friend even calls me Lady Rhubarb (and she is Lady Sassafras, but that's a whole other story). I only know one other person who loves rhubarb more than me (not saying that there isn't someone else out there, just that I only know one). My buddy from the liquor store, J, is always begging me to bring him samples of anything I happen to make with rhubarb in it. He's even got a couple of special requests for when the season finally arrives in Oklahoma (Rhubarb-Mulberry Pie just like his grandma made).

 

Of all the "foods that aren't part of the food group you think they are," rhubarb is by far my favorite. Most people when asked if rhubarb is a fruit will say, "What's rhubarb?" But the rest of us would probably say, "Of course. It's used in pie, isn't it?" It's sort of like tomatoes. It's used primarily as a savory ingredient so we associate it with vegetables even though we know it's a fruit. Rhubarb is so often used for sweet dishes, even though it can be extremely tart, that it's usually associated with fruits. Here's a helpful hint if you're ever having the great fruit vs. vegetable debate (even if it's only with yourselfm I promise I won't judge you): if it has seeds on the inside, then you've got a fruit (that means avocados are also a fruit).

 

Now I know it's not rhubarb season yet (so close!), but this past weekend while getting some groceries for St. Patrick's Day I spied a bucket of rhubarb sitting in the produce section. It was calling to me. "Hey! You with the frizzy red hair! Take us home and make something sinfully delicious with us." Well, alright! I started thinking about the different recipes that I wanted to tackle with my lovely red stalks. I was looking at past recipes done by fellow bloggers and came across a fairly recent recipe done by Tartelette. Then I was immediately transported back to Scotland where I had the most amazing rhubarb crisp the world has ever known. I used Tartelette's Red Berries and Rhubarb Crumble as a guideline to get started but made my own version of the Scottish dessert I had back in November. I also wanted to keep it a little familiar and used my mom's recipe for the crisp topping (I'm sure it's the same as almost everyone else's, but it's what I grew up with and love so I'm using it).

Rhubarb Crisp
Recipe by Tartelette, my mom, and me (inspired by a recipe from Scotland)

For the topping:
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon (next time I'll either do cardamom like Tartelette or ginger just because)
1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces

For the filling:
4 cups fresh rhubarb
2 Tbl cornstarch
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbl honey

1. For the crisp topping: Place the sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl. Add the butter pices and cut it into the dry ingredients using either a pastry blender or two knives (or you could do it the classy way and just use your hands like me, just work quickly so the butter doesn't melt; if it gets too soft, just pop the bowl into the fridge before topping).
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. For the filling: First peel the rhubarb and then slice into small pieces (use a peeler very gently so you don't pull too much flash away from the stalks).  In a large bowl, add the rhubarb, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest, and honey. Stir until well mixed being careful not to toss pieces out of the bowl (hey, it happens).
4. Divide the mixture into ramekins or a 9x13 pan. Place an equal amount of the crisp topping on each serving. Place the crisps in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the filling starts to bubble (I started out at 20 and ended up at almost 40 minutes and still didn't end up with the coloring I wanted on top). Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or vanilla custard (my favorite).

On another happy note, I got a new camera so my next recipe will have pictures from that. I know they won't be much better, but I'm enrolling in a photography class this summer to help me learn how to take better pictures. So hopefully soon I'll be bringing you much better pics.

Sticky Toffee Goodness!

A couple of months ago, my hubby and I went on our second honeymoon. We spent a couple days in Paris and then spent almost a week in Scotland. I'll be honest, Paris is absolutely gorgeous, and I'll definitely go back in the future, but Scotland is where I want to live. I was almost in tears having to come home. One of my favorite things that I ate while in the land of thistle and heather was Stocky Toffee Pudding.

 

It's another one of those "don't let the name fool you" kind of recipes. Puddings in the UK are actually more like a cake. This one is topped with an amazing caramel sauce. I also wanted to try and get it as close to the one I had by serving it with custard (I almost had a major FAIL on my hands when I accidentally boiled it while trying to get it into an ice bath; I rescued it with my food processor though). I got the recipe for the pudding off of All Recipes and the recipe for the custard from Better Homes and Gardens via Tastebook. Anne and Honey Mim, this one is for you!

 

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Recipe from All Recipes, adapted by me

 

1 3/4 cups dates, pitted and chopped (I used raisins since I forgot to pick up dates)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup boiling water to cover
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/8 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 stick and 1 Tbs butter, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl combine the dates and baking soda. Pour enough boiling water over the dates to just cover them. Allow to cool.
3. Cream the butter with the white sugar until light. Beat in the eggs and mix well to combine. Add the flour and date mixture (including water) to the egg mixture and fold to combine.
4. Pour the batter into one 8 inch round baking pan (I used a square instead). Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool, slice and serve with warm caramel sauce.
5. To Make Caramel Sauce: In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar and heavy cream. Heat on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved; do not allow to boil. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter is thoroughly melted. Use immediately (I out about 1/2 cup of the caramel sauce on the cake straight from the oven after poking holes all over the top for extra sticky goodness).

Stirred Custard
Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

 

5 egg yolks, beaten

 

1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1. In a  heavy medium-sized pot use a wooden spoon and stir together egg yolks, milk, and sugar.
2. Cook and stir continuously with the wooden spoon over medium heat until mixture just coats the back of a clean metal spoon (temp should be 160F on a candy thermometer; do not allow to boil; also, don't rush this step or it will curdle). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Quickly cool custard by placing the saucepan in a large bowl of ice water for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for at least two hours before serving.