Say hello to a moist, caramel-y, date cake topped off with a sticky, vanilla scented toffee sauce that is so good you might drink it right out of the saucepan and I won’t judge. This sticky date pudding is an Australian classic and a few years ago, my Mom brought one over and I’d forgotten how good it was! I asked her for the recipe which she’d got from an Australian friend and coincidentally, a few days later, I got an Instagram message from a reader (hi, Anuradha!) asking me if I could possibly make a sticky date pudding because she’d loved it when she tasted it during her travels and wanted to recreate it. I love it when the stars align.
This was a very old post on the blog but I recently updated the photos and modified the recipe a bit as well. The cake is still a bit warm when the sauce is poured over it and it soaks in a bit and the rest is then served along with each individual peace. It’s so comforting and delicious!!
The cake itself is quick to make, the sauce takes all of 5 minutes which means really, you have no reason not to make this recipe. It’s caramel, butterscotch, toffee, all at once and is addictively good. I used light brown sugar throughout, but dark brown is recommended for a deeper colour and flavour, so if you have that, use it.
This pudding doesn’t exactly taste of dates (in case you’re not a huge fan), even though there’s pieces of them scattered throughout the cake. They add texture and that beautiful caramelised, honey-like flavour and the whole thing is magical. Let’s make pudding!
Please read the recipe notes before beginning.
Sticky Date Pudding
Ingredients
For the cake
- 200 gms seedless dates, finely chopped
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 and 1/4 cups freshly boiled water (185 ml)
- 1/4 cup butter (55 gms)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (105 gms, see notes)
- 2 eggs (I have not tried an eggless version)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (160 gms)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
For the sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (105 gms)
- 1/2 cup cream (125 ml, see notes)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (55 gms)
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 baking pan with non-stick baking paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- In a small bowl, add the dates and baking soda, then top with the boiling water. Stir, cover and set aside for the dates to soften.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on low-medium speed until pale and creamy, then add the eggs and vanilla. Beat briefly to combine.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, if using. Fold gently to combine, the mixture will now be thick and sticky. Add the dates along with all the liquid in the bowl. Gently stir to combine into a smooth batter, running the hand mixer through it if needed.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then poke holes all over the cake with a toothpick or preferably, a skewer.
- In the meantime, make the sauce by combining the sugar, cream, butter in a small saucepan on low heat. Stir often till the butter and melted and the sauce looks uniform, then simmer for a minute or two and turn off the heat. Stir in the salt and vanilla.
- Pour about two thirds of the hot sauce over the cake. It will pool a little at the edges so use a spoon to spread it around evenly since the sauce isn't super runny (it doesn't soak inside fully). Let the pudding rest for about 15 minutes, then slice into 16 squares and serve each one with a little bit of the remaining sauce. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream can be added on top too!
- Store the pudding in the fridge at all times, where it will keep for 4 to 5 days. Refrigerate leftover sauce separately and microwave along with the individual portions of the cake before eating. Happy baking!
Notes
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Made this twice, and planning on making it again this weekend. Never picked up on the fact that the sauce needs dark brown sugar, and just used regular brown sugar and it turned out fine! The cake is insanely soft and with the sauce, it’s such a crowd pleaser. I almost NEVER leave reviews on recipes I’ve tried, and often use mu own substitutions, but this one is darn near perfect! Thanks for sharing!!!
I’m so thrilled to hear that ! Love that it worked with regular sugar too 🙂 thank you for making this and letting me know!
What can we use as a substitute for brown sugar as it is not available in the place where I live.
Brown sugar is essential here for flavour, white sugar won’t get the same result. Blue bird demerara sugar is available in a lot of grocery stores, that’s the closest alternative I can suggest.
Thanks, I’ve made this recipe about four times now and it’s been a huge hit with my roomies. My sister tried some of the caramel sauce when she visited and demanded the recipe! I added some maple syrup extract because I only had regular brown sugar and that helped to really get that deep caramel flavour.
Thanks again!
Hi Sophie, thanks so much! I’m so glad you like this pudding, it’s one of my favourites 🙂