I love caramel and toffee (but not banoffee. For some reason, I find it vile). I’m also a fan of a good sticky toffee pudding, but have never made it. Given that the weather has taken a turn for the decidedly Wintery, it seemed the perfect excuse!

It is not a pudding for the faint of heart. Even before reading the recipe I knew it was full of butter and sugar. As it turns out, less butter and even more sugar than I thought!

Dates, finely chopped, soaked in boiling water. I left them sit a bit before introducing the bicarb as to be honest, they’d been sitting in the press for a bit and were drier than a fresh bag would have been.

This is one of the stickiest, messiest bits of any recipe I’ve done in quite a while. If you’ve got a mezzaluna gathering dust in your drawer, this is very much the time to break it out.

Butter and treacle look decidedly better before than after…

In with the bicarby dates, complete with soaking liquid, then the eggs and dry ingredients.

Looks a bit like a weird chocolate cake batter. The bicarb is very much responsible for the “foofiness” of the batter.

In to a well-buttered ovenproof dish, and about half an hour later, this is the result.

It does look a little like a sad brownie, but it’s a time I wish that blogs were scratch ‘n’ sniff. It didn’t look anything approaching toffee going into the oven, but the aroma of burnt sugary goodness was fantastic.

But what’s sticky toffee without a liberal serving of toffee sauce?

Sugar, butter and treacle, melted together, and then when completely dissolved, double cream is whisked in. Patience is a virtue here, as if the cream goes in too early the resulting sauce will be grainy and less-than-amazing. I made half the amount dictated by the recipe, and was glad. It was plenty for my tastes, without everything completely swimming in sauce – I still wanted some texture from the sponge, and not just gooey-ness.

The final result, served warm, just before more cream was drizzled on top (what? There was some left in the bottle!).

This was truly delicious. Incredibly comforting, and the dates had dissolved away into a background note – I was worried that as they were a little dry at the start, I’d have lumps running through. The treacle isn’t overpowering either, which treacle has a habit of being.

I would say I’d make this regularly, as it’s very straightforward, pretty quick, and absolutely scrumptious, but my waistline will appreciate it being kept for special occasions.