Festive Sticky Toffee Cake
If you are not a lover of dried fruit but still want a spectacular cake to have at Christmas or during the Festive season, then please try my sticky toffee cake decorated specifically for the joyous occasion.
I have shared this recipe before under Sticky Date Cake with Toffee Sauce – please see the link Sticky Date Cake with Toffee Sauce however, I feel by sharing again, it shows that your favourite recipes can often me re-vamped and used again for specific occasions, such as an alternative celebration cake over Christmas.
Ingredients
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Sticky Date Cake
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250g dates- pitted and chopped
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1 tsp baking soda
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150ml boiling water
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1 tbsp coffee- with splash water added to make liquid
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125g butter- softened
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150g sugar- white castor or soft brown
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2 whole eggs
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125g self raising flour- generous measure and sieved
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Hot Toffee Sauce (500ml)
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500g soft brown sugar- scant measure
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75g butter- unsalted
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600ml cream- single or whipping
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1 tsp vanilla essence
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Decoration
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Icing sugar- sieved all over cake for snow
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Festive ornaments
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Bowl of whipped cream
Instructions
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Prepare cake tin:
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01 Grease and lightly flour a deep 21 cm cake tin. Set aside, or if using a non stick tin, line with a strip of non stick paper which covers the base of the tin and up over both sides. I do this as it really helps when I wish to 'lift' the cake out of the tin after baking, and especially useful after you have covered the top of the cake with the sticky toffee sauce. See second image.
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Make date cake:
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02 In a bowl sprinkle the dates with the soda, then pour the boiling water over them. Stir until soda is dissolved and allow to stand for 10 – 15 minutes.
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03 In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time beating until light and fluffy. Stir in the sieved flour, the soaked dates, liquid coffee and water mixture.
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04 Pour into a deep, well-greased and floured 21cm cake tin. You will find that the mixture resembles a thick batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. It is at this stage that you can pour several tablespoons of toffee sauce over the top of the cake and put back in the oven to bubble - see notes below. Always allow to cool in the tin before turning out.
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Make toffee sauce:
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05 Place all ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until sugar is dissolved
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06 Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for 5 minutes.
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07 Pour hot over cake or store until required.
Notes
For a wonderful sticky topping to your cake why not pour a little of the toffee sauce (approx 5 tbsp) over the top, put it back in the oven to allow the sauce to soak in and leave until the surface starts to bubble. Tastes great! Watch out though, this cake is very rich so don’t serve huge slices and remember it tastes even better if served warm with the hot sauce and lashings of whipped cream.
