The only good thing to come out of Home Economics

[davidn]

Since the mention of sticky toffee pudding in my last entry, I've had requests for the recipe from mercuryanna and adararose_2, who both had the opportunity to try the AMH version of it while in Scotland. I'll put the recipe I use up here - this attempt came out of a second year H.E. class, and is the only thing I remember from it.

Some ingredients might not be readily available in America - there was a bit of difficulty getting self-raising flour and double cream there. I think "heavy whipping cream" is close enough to double cream, and if you can't find self-raising flour, plain flour and baking powder will do, but you'll have to guess the amount. Also, feel free to replace white and/or brown sugar with demerara sugar, it works just as well for both of them.

As for measures, they're all in metric, which everyone in Britain uses except my house. But on the Internet, a conversion table is never far away. Remember, as said in the H.E. handbook, this is obscenely full of margarine and sugar and so on, so try not to have heart attacks.

~ Sticky Toffee Pudding ~

Mixture
50g margarine
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
200g self-raising flour
100g dates
2.5ml baking soda
250ml boiling water

Sauce
100g margarine
100g brown sugar
250ml double cream

Oven
Gas Mark 5 (190˚C or 375˚F) for 30 - 40 minutes

Method

1. Set the oven and grease an ovenproof dish. (Or if you're like me, don't bother, it never seems to make much difference.) Actually, I find that a casserole dish works best for baking it.
   
2. Cut the dates up into small pieces. This is an awkward job - get someone else to do it (fiancee?) if possible. How large your date chunks should be depends on your preference, but pretty miniscule works best for me.
   
3. Place the chopped pieces in a bowl with baking soda and pour boiling water over them, so that the water just covers the dates.
   
4. Set that aside for later on.
   
5. Break the eggs one at a time into a cup then into a small bowl, or directly in to the small bowl if you're feeling confident.
   
6. Cream the margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Try not to eat it all on the spot.
   
7. Beat the eggs in gradually.
   
8. Fold in the flour, sieving it as you go. The mixture will become stiff as you reach the end.
   
9. Pour a little of the water out of the date mixture, then add the remainder to the main mixing bowl. The aim is to make a liquid but reasonably thick substance - it will probably appear too watery at first, but keep stirring and things should work out fine.
   
10. Pour into the prepared dish and bake. I find the guide of 30 to 40 minutes pretty conservative, it often needs more time.
    
    
11. To make the sauce, just throw the sauce ingredients into a large pan together, and mix them until all the lumps are eliminated.
    
12. Bring it to the boil. (This wasn't actually an official part of the recipe, but I find that it works best to thicken it.) Once it's bubbling, turn the heat off.
    
13. When the sponge is ready, pour a little sauce over it to moisten, then put the rest in a jug for pouring over it.
    
14. (Optional) Add a little milk to the sauce if it thickens too much - it will if it's left standing for a while.
    

Good luck!