Sticky toffee pudding
English dessert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sticky toffee pudding is an English dessert consisting of a moist sponge cake covered in a toffee sauce, often served with a vanilla custard or vanilla ice cream.[1] It is widely served in the Lake District in northwest England, where it is a culinary symbol.[2]
| |
| Alternative names | Sticky date pudding |
|---|---|
| Type | Pudding |
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | England |
| Region or state | Northern England |
| Main ingredients | Sponge cake, dates, toffee |
Composition
Sticky toffee pudding comprises moist sponge cake which contains finely chopped dates covered with toffee sauce.[2] The sponge is usually light and fluffy, closer to a muffin consistency rather than a heavier traditional English sponge, and is often lightly flavoured with nuts or spices such as cloves.[2][3] The toffee sauce is usually made from double cream and different dark sugars (brown sugar, jaggery, molasses sugar, muscovado, panela, peen tong).[3]
Sticky toffee pudding is most commonly served with custard or vanilla ice cream, the vanilla flavour of these complementing the richer flavours of the pudding.[3] It may also be served with single cream.
Origins
Sticky toffee pudding was invented in 1907 by the landlady of the Gait Inn in Millington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.[citation needed] It was popularised in the 1970s by Francis Coulson and Robert Lee, who developed and served it at the Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel in Cumbria.[4][5]
A take-home version to heat in an oven or microwave was developed in 1989 by the owners of the Village Shop in Cartmel, Cumbria.[2][6] Their dish became popular, and by the late 1990s was being sold in supermarkets across the UK.[6] By 2009, sticky toffee pudding was widely available in England from manufacturers to bake at home.[7]
