Gluten Free Sticky Toffee Pudding

Really, I can’t think of Christmas without a steamed pudding and this sticky toffee pudding will ignite so much pleasure in your mouth, it will make your hair spontaneously ignite with a lifted blue flame, so don’t use any hairspray before serving.

The trick to getting the texture of the pudding perfectly moist was a combination of treating the majooli dates just so and using very moist dark and light brown sugar. The absence of either or rendered cakes that just didn’t quite hit the mark in both flavor or texture, so even if you have to hunt the majooli dates down, it’s well worth it. I PROMISE. Toffee puddings are typically made with either prunes or dates and although I love prunes, the dates impart far more flavor, so deciding which way to go on that point was a no-brainer. The next gluten free hurdle that I had to take into account was just how to get the perfect sponge-like texture. That’s where the tinkering around with the flours came into play. I eliminated cornstarch here and used cassava flour (tapioca starch that still has the fiber in tact) for a decidedly perfect result. Furthermore, as I mentioned above, I played around a lot with light and dark brown sugars because traditional sticky toffee pudding is made with a sweet molasses-like equivalent called treacale. I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE, so I stuck with what I do know. I knew for certain that full on molasses would destroy the delicate flavor of the dates and weigh the sponge cake down. Luckily light and dark brown sugars have molasses in them and the combination of the two that allowed me to address the treacale issue without compromising a bit on flavor. Now you can wow an Englishman with a sticky toffee pudding that will have them asking you over and over if it really is gluten free.

After mastering this recipe, I can’t lie, it had me dancing a gluten free jig in my kitchen. So put on a your favorite Christmas music, some slippery socks perfect for dancing, and let me show you how easy this really is.

Gluten Free Sticky Toffee Pudding

FOR THE CAKES:

230 g. or 1 ½ cups pitted majooli dates
1 ½ cups warm water
1 teaspoon fresh baking soda

110 g. or ½ cup + 1 ½ teaspoons light brown sugar
110 g. or ½ cup + 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
60 g. or 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon potato starch flour
40 g. or 3 tablespoons sorghum flour
40 g. or 1 ½ tablespoons glutinous rice flour
45 g. or 4 tablespoons tapioca starch (sold as tapioca flour by Bob’s Red Mill)
45 g. or 3 tablespoons cassava flour (whole grain tapioca flour) I used Lion’s here.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
3 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Three hours before beginning puree the pitted dates in a food processor with the water and then pour into a glass bowl. Add the baking soda and allow to fizz. Stir several times. Refrigerate for at least three hours, preferably overnight so the dates absorb most of the liquid.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 12- 4oz. ramekins with vegetable shortening and lightly dust with additional glutinous rice flour. Stagger the greased ramekins into a roasting pan that is at least 3 inches deep. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine all the sugars and flours. Mix to amalgamate. Add the diced cold butter and mix until the flours looks like damp sand.

Add the eggs and the reserved dates and whip on medium and then high until smooth. Finish with the vanilla. The batter should be runny.

Divide the batter into the ramekins, filing them ¾ full.

Pour boiling water into the roasting pan, being careful not to get any into the batter.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and then slowly and carefully transfer the pan into the oven so as not to slosh the ramekins around and spill batter into the water.

Bake for 1 hour and then turn the oven off and leave the pan in the oven for 30 minutes
more.

Remove the pan from the oven, and then transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to cool till they are cool enough to handle.

In the meantime, make the toffee sauce.

All photos by Knoxy

Sinful Toffee Sauce

110 g. or ½ cup + 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
100 g. or 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons castor sugar
40 g. or 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons water

1 cup heavy cream

113 g. or 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Melt the sugars, salt and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Allow to cook for 3 minutes, whisking a few times as it goes. Reduce heat and whisk in the heavy cream, being very careful as the sugar will pop. Boil for a minute and then remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Once fully incorporated, finish off with the lemon juice and rum.

The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools, so allow to cool for 10 minutes so it will beautifully coat the cakes with intention.

Invert the puddings onto your serving plates and generously pour the toffee sauce over the tops.

Indulge.