Okay, we’re back from our vacation to the UK, which I have to say was pretty awesome. We visited several good friends (including Vivek, Jeanie, Sarah, Stephanie, and Paul – it was great seeing you guys!), saw lots of cool places, and ate lots of good food, and are looking forward to sharing some of it with you (at least digitally!). Probably our favorite dish of the trip, which we sampled cross Wales, Scotland, and England, is called “sticky toffee pudding.” Ever had it before? Well, it’s pretty much out of this world, and every restaurant where we ordered this decadent dessert seemed to have a slightly different take on it. At the heart of it is a moist, rich, dark cake that is made with dates, which adds an interesting flavor to it. The cake is then topped with an equally rich caramel toffee sauce, and then to top it off, you can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Not for the faint of heart, I assure you…!
We had it three or four times over our three week trip (it was our big vacation of the year after all), and found that some chef’s made the cake more spongy than others, and some made the sauce sweeter or thicker than others. For my first attempt once I returned home, I tried this recipe from Chow, which turned out to be pretty good. The cake was on the denser side, and the sauce was on the sweeter, thicker side. This particular recipe satisfied our craving for sticky toffee pudding for the time being, but I may try a different version in the future.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
| Recipe Report Card | Notes About Recipe Ratings |
|
Tasty Rating Five Chefs (Gourmet Fare!) |
Nothing like a dessert that both satisfies your sweetest tooth and takes you back to your vacation! |
|
Easy Rating
Three Easy Chairs (Average Difficulty) |
It takes a couple of steps to make this dessert, but if you leave out the sauce, it is still a good cake on its own. |
|
Healthy Rating
One Apples (This Might Take A Year Off Your Life) |
Not recommended to eat on a regular basis, and only a little bit at a time – it packs a punch of calories! |
|
Green Rating
Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved) |
We used mostly organic ingredients for this dish, and the eggs were local and free-range. |
Welcome home! Sounds like y’all had a wonderful vacation! No, I’ve never had sticky pudding but I do remember when Haagen-Dazs ice cream came out with a Sticky Pudding Ice cream. It was pretty good, but I’m sure nothing like the real thing. Didn’t know that dates were in the cake, but that sounds really, really good! Of course the toffee sauce and ice cream on top looks fabulous as well! Great looking dessert! I can definitely see why the health rating is “not recommended”, but then everything in moderation – right?
Yum, delish! Love when you post UK delicacies!
Welcome back!This pudding looks absolutely perfect with a scoop of ice cream on top!
Welcome back, sounds like you had a lovely time and lots of eating, LOL. This sticky toffee pudding does sounds delicious. I especially love anything with a caramel sauce. Happy 4th you!
Looks like a very delicious dessert! I love anything with caramel. Sounds like you had a fun trip.
How sweet and delicious!