Individual Sticky Toffee Puddings Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter ten 4-ounce ramekins; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
• In a small saucepan, combine dates, and 1 cup warm water. Simmer until most of the water is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a small food processor, and process until smooth; keep warm.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the eggs, and beat to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the flour mixture, and beat until fully combined.
• With machine running, add date purée, a little at a time, beating to combine after each addition. Divide evenly between prepared ramekins, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Cool to room temperature, slice off top, and discard. Cut in half horizontally, and layer with sauce. Serve immediately with ice cream, if desired.

Steps:

• For the sauce: In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/4 cups of the heavy cream, the sugar, corn syrup and butter. Cook, stirring often, until a dark amber color, about 40 minutes. Carefully add the remaining 1 1/4 cups heavy cream. IT WILL BUBBLE UP AND IT IS HOT!
• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease seven 1/2 cup ramekins and set aside.
• Combine the dates and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan and cook until the dates are softened, about 15 minutes. Puree in a blender and cool. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, egg, zest and date puree. Stir in the dry ingredients. Divide into the prepared ramekins and bake about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and remove the cakes from the ramekins. Slice the cakes in half horizontally. Rinse out the ramekins. Pour a little toffee sauce in the bottom of the ramekins and top with the bottom layer of the cake. Add more toffee sauce, place the top cake layer on top and cover with more sauce. Heat slightly before serving invert onto plate and yes ...cover with more sauce. Serve with whipped cream.

Steps:

• 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.

Steps:

• Stone and chop 225g medjool dates quite small, put them in a bowl, then pour over 175ml boiling water.
• Leave for about 30 mins until cool and well-soaked, then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• Butter and flour seven mini pudding tins (each about 200ml/7fl oz) and sit them on a baking sheet. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
• While the dates are soaking, make the puddings. Mix 175g self-raising flour and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda together and beat the 2 eggs in a separate bowl.
• Beat 85g softened butter and 140g demerara sugar together in a large bowl for a few mins until slightly creamy (the mixture will be grainy from the sugar). Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between additions.
• Beat in 2 tbsp black treacle then, using a large metal spoon, gently fold in one-third of the flour and bicarbonate of soda mix, then half of the 100ml milk, being careful not to overbeat. Repeat until all the flour mix and all the milk is used.
• Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter. The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter.
• Spoon it evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 mins, until risen and firm.
• Meanwhile, put the 175g light muscovado sugar and 50g butter pieces for the sauce in a medium saucepan with half the 225ml double cream.
• Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar has completely dissolved.
• Stir in 1 tbsp black treacle, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 mins until it is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the double cream.
• Remove the puddings from the oven. Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out.
• You can serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they'll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce. To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes.
• Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them. Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn't smudge (no need to chill).
• When ready to serve, heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling. Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Steps:

• For the pudding cakes:
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and flour four 4-ounce ramekins and line bottom of each with round of parchment paper cut to fit.
• Set prepared ramekins in deep-side baking or roasting pan lined with clean dish towel.
• Bring kettle or large saucepan of water to boil over high heat.
• Combine half of dates with water and baking soda in glass measuring cup (dates should be submerged beneath water) and soak for 5 minutes.
• Drain dates, reserving liquid, and transfer to medium bowl.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in another medium bowl.
• Process remaining dates and brown sugar in food processor until just blended, about five 1-second pulses.
• Add reserved soaking liquid, eggs, and vanilla and process until smooth, about 5 seconds.
• With food processor running, pour melted butter through feed tube in steady stream.
• Transfer this mixture to bowl with softened dates.
• Gently stir dry mixture into wet mixture until just combined and date pieces are evenly dispersed.
• Distribute batter evenly among prepared ramekins.
• Fill roasting pan with enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of ramekins, making sure not to splash water into ramekins.
• Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil, crimping edges to seal.
• Bake pudding cakes until puffed and small holes appear on surface, about 40 minutes.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/360°F Lightly butter 8 x 3" ramekin dishes. I like to spray them to coat them evenly.
• Soak the dates in the boiling water for about half an hour to soften them. Add the bicarbonate of soda, vanilla essence and coffee mixture, mix well and allow to soak for 30 minutes more.
• In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, and beat well after each addition. Fold in the sifted flour, again a little at a time, gently mixing through after each addition.
• Then add the date mixture. You should have a fairly sloppy mixture, it looks all wrong - but it is ALL right, I promise you! Divide the mixture equally between the ramekins, place them on a baking tray and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until well risen.
• Cool for 5 minutes, then loosen them around the sides with a butter knife and turn out. The puddings can be cooled and frozen at this stage. After freezing, defrost, pour the hot sauce over and re-heat to serve as instructed below.
• To serve:- Place the puddings in a shallow ovenproof dish. Heat the grill. Make the sauce by melting the butter, cream, pecans and sugar together in a pan, and stir well.When just boiling, pour HALF of the sauce over the puddings; and then continue to heat the sauce on a rolling boil until it has thickened.
• Place the puddings 5" below the grill and cook for about 8 minutes, making sure that the nuts and sauce does not burn too badly; you should have toasted nuts in places, with a sticky toffee glaze which is almost crunchy.
• Serve with the extra toffee sauce in a heatproof jug, chilled cream, custard, ice-cream, or just NAKED!