Sticky toffee date pudding is a popular British dessert that is traditionally served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of custard or cream.
This vegan adaption has a moist sponge cake sweetened with brown sugar and date paste and homemade buttery toffee sauce.
Comforting, rich, and nostalgic, It's basically a hug in a pudding!
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🔪 Recipe Overview
Taste: The main taste is sweet buttery toffee with a hint of molasses, feel free to add some gingerbread spices as well for a festive twist.
Texture: Sticky and moist, with a lovely fluffy cake crumb that soaks up the toffee sauce so well.
Level of Ease: This vegan pudding is pretty easy to make, you'll just dirty a couple of bowls, but it is so worth it!
Best Served: With a big scoop of ice cream for Christmas, Thanksgiving. Just like mince pies, it's a classic dessert during the holiday season.
Free-From: Eggless, dairy-free, and nut-free.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
Here's everything you need to make this delicious vegan sticky toffee pudding recipe from scratch:
If you're a fan of dates, you might also enjoy some of these 20+ date-sweetened desserts!
Ingredient Notes
- Dates. You can use either fresh or dried dates, but I strongly recommend using Medjool dates if at all possible. They truly have the best flavor, and when stored in the fridge they retain a juicy texture which adds moisture and stickiness!
- Sugar. I tried a few different types of sugar when developing this sticky date pudding, and settled on a combination of dark muscovado and light muscovado. You can swap them out for regular soft brown, unrefined cane, and soft dark brown sugar.
- Vegan buttermilk. A combination of non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar works to create a vegan buttermilk substitute. This tenderizes and provides leavening along with baking powder and baking soda.
- Vegan yogurt. Thick Greek style (Skyr) is best, but regular soy or coconut yogurt will work as well.
- Molasses. You'll need cane molasses, not blackstrap molasses. You can also use black treacle. I've heard these aren't the easiest to come by in the US so I've also tested a variation with maple syrup, which works just as well.
- Vegan butter. This is used for the date sponge and in the toffee sauce.
- Non-dairy dairy cream. I used oat cream, but soy cream or another non-dairy single cream will do. You can also use coconut cream.
- Vanilla bean paste. I forgot to add it to the picture above! But vanilla adds depth of flavor and really compliments the toffee flavor in the pudding.
🥣 How To Make Vegan Sticky Toffee Date Pudding
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
This easy sticky toffee pudding comes together in 3 stages; the date paste, sponge cake, and toffee sauce.
- Soak the pitted dates in boiling water for 20-30 minutes.
- Mash them into a smooth paste using a fork, and stir in the vanilla.
- Cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer or stand mixer for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the vegan yogurt and molasses.
- Alternate between adding the buttermilk and dry ingredients to the batter in 3 increments.
- Fold the date paste into the batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Simmer all the toffee ingredients for a few minutes until slightly thickened.
- Pierce the date pudding several times with a fork.
- Pour over half of the toffee sauce, and reserve the other half for just before serving.
📝 Recipe Tips
Make sure you remove the pits from the dates before adding them to any recipe. Seriously, the last thing you want is to bite into one of those.
Store fresh dates in the fridge to keep them juicy and plump. The harder the dates, the longer they will need to soak in water to make date paste.
For a variation on traditional date pudding, swap out half the dates for juicy raisins or sultanas and add half a teaspoon of cinnamon or ginger to the batter.
💬 FAQs
Once cool, wrap any leftover pudding with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Store the pudding and toffee sauce separately.
Let the cake sit out at room temperature for an hour or two before serving and warm up the remaining toffee sauce before pouring it over. You can also reheat it in the oven or microwave until warm.
To check the pudding is done, insert a skewer or toothpick into the center, it should come out with a few sticky crumbs on it.
If it appears to have some cake batter, give it a taste to make sure it's not just some date paste!
Medjool dates are best for this vegan sticky date pudding. They have a deep caramel flavor and juicy texture.
Sukkari dates are also a great option, especially if you can get them from the chilled section in the supermarket.
Absolutely! You can bake individual sticky toffee puddings in a muffin pan or in individual ramekins. Reduce the baking time to 20-25 minutes.
Make sure you grease them well so that the puddings are easy to remove once cooled.
🍫 More Classic Vegan Recipes
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Description
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 ⅓ cups) dates, pitted (preferably Medjool dates)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) freshly boiled water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 180 ml (¾ cup) soy milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 270 g (2 cups + 1 tbsp) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 90 g (⅖ cup) light muscovado sugar , unrefined cane sugar or soft brown sugar
- 90 g (⅖ cup) dark muscovado sugar, or dark brown sugar
- 150 g (⅔ cup) vegan butter, room temperature *see notes
- 150 g (⅗ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt, or coconut yogurt
- 40 g (2 tbsp) molasses, or black treacle or maple syrup
Toffee Sauce
- 130 g (⅗ cup) light muscovado sugar
- 60 g (¼ cup) vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon molasses, or black treacle or maple syrup
- 150 ml (⅗ cup) non-dairy cream
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare: Roughly chop the pitted dates and add them to a bowl with the boiling water. Leave them to soak for 20-30 minutes (the harder the dates, the longer they will need to soften). Add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl or jug, stir and allow to sit for 5 minutes. This is vegan buttermilk.Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F). Lightly grease a 7x9" rectangular pan with some oil or vegan butter.Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt to a bowl and whisk to combine, set aside.
- Make the date paste: Once the dates have softened, use the back of a fork to mash them into a smooth paste (do not drain off the water). Stir in the vanilla bean paste and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar: Add the butter, light muscovado, and dark muscovado sugar to a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until light and fluffy, for about 3 minutes.
- Make the batter: Add the vegan yogurt to the creamed butter in 3 increments, whisking between each one to incorporate. Whisk in the molasses.Alternate between adding the buttermilk and dry ingredients to the batter in 3 increments. Whisk to combine between each one, but be careful not to overmix the batter.Use a spatula to fold the date paste into the batter, again be careful not to overmix.
- Bake: Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Meanwhile, make the caramel.
- Make the caramel: Add the sugar, butter, molasses, cream, and sea salt to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.Once simmering, bring the temperature down to medium and continue to simmer and stir using a rubber spatula for 2-3 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- To check the pudding is done, insert a skewer or toothpick into the center, it should come out with a few sticky crumbs on it.Once out of the oven, pierce several holes in the cake using a fork. Pour half of the toffee sauce over the cake while still hot and allow it to cool for 30 minutes
- Serve: Just before serving, pour the remaining toffee sauce over the pudding. Carefully slice into portions and serve warm with a scoop of non-dairy ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.
- Storage: Once cool, wrap any leftover pudding with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Store the pudding and toffee sauce separately.Let the cake sit out at room temperature for an hour or two before serving and warm up the remaining toffee sauce before pouring it over. You can also reheat it in the oven or microwave until warm.
Notes
- Vegan butter: Take this out of the fridge to sit at room temperature for 30 mins to 1 hour. Use vegan block butter NOT spreadable butter from a tub. I use flora plant butter or Violife Block.
- Some sugar in the US is not vegan, if in doubt use organic sugar.
- Store fresh dates in the fridge to keep them juicy and plump.
- For a variation, Swap out half the dates for juicy raisins or sultanas and add half a teaspoon of cinnamon or ginger to the batter.
Nutrition
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