Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding (vegan)
This pumpkin sticky toffee pudding is an incredible pumpkin spice twist on the classic British sticky date pudding. A soft pumpkin date cake slathered in buttery toffee sauce, this pudding is rich, moist, sticky, very moreish and easy to make too!
Servings 9 people
Ingredients
Cake:
- 125 g (4 ½ oz) pitted dates chopped
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 180 g (¾ cup) boiling water
- 160 g (⅔ cup) pumpkin puree
- 73 g (80ml/⅓ cup) oil (I use olive)
- 75 g (6 Tablespoons) dark muscovado or soft brown sugar
- 50 g (2 Tablespoons) treacle or molasses
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
Toffee Sauce:
- 150 g (⅔ cup) vegan block butter
- 150 g (¾ cup) light brown soft sugar
- 30 g ( 1 ½ tablespoons) treacle or molasses
- 150 g (½ cup + 2 Tbsp) non-dairy cream (home-made cashew cream, soy cream, Elmlea plant double or coconut cream)
- 60 g (¼ cup) pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- good pinch of salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease an approx 20cm / 8in square baking dish or cake tin.
- Place the chopped dates and bicarbonate of soda in a large jug and stir in the boiling water. Set aside to soak for 10 minutes so that the dates are nice and soft.125 g (4 ½ oz) pitted dates, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 180 g (¾ cup) boiling water
- Pour the dates and their soaking liquid into a blender. Add the pumpkin puree, oil, sugar and treacle. Blend until smooth.160 g (⅔ cup) pumpkin puree, 73 g (80ml/⅓ cup) oil (I use olive), 75 g (6 Tablespoons) dark muscovado or soft brown sugar, 50 g (2 Tablespoons) treacle or molasses
- Scrape the blended mixture into a large bowl and whisk in the baking powder, pumpkin spice and salt, followed by the flour. Don’t over-beat the batter, just stir until no dry lumps remain.2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice, ¼ teaspoon salt, 200 g (1 + ⅔ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- Scrape the batter into the greased tin and spread it level. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Make the sauce while the pudding is baking. Place the butter, light brown soft sugar and treacle in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir until it is melted and smooth.150 g (⅔ cup) vegan block butter, 150 g (¾ cup) light brown soft sugar, 30 g ( 1 ½ tablespoons) treacle or molasses
- Add the cream, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract, stir until smooth, bring up to a simmer then remove the pan from the heat. Add a pinch of salt to taste (carefully, it will be extremely hot!).150 g (½ cup + 2 Tbsp) non-dairy cream (home-made cashew cream, soy cream, Elmlea plant double or coconut cream), 60 g (¼ cup) pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, good pinch of salt to taste
- Allow the pudding to cool in the dish for 10 minutes then prick the surface all over with a toothpick and drizzle over about ½ of the toffee sauce, making sure that the top of the pudding is fully covered.
- Leave to cool for 20 minutes then slice into 9 slabs and serve with ice cream or custard and the rest of the sticky toffee sauce. (The sauce will thicken as it cools, simply reheat it in a pan or in the microwave for a few seconds until it becomes pourable again).
Notes
- See post above for tips, details, storage, freezing and make-ahead instructions and step-by-step photos.
- As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- Tablespoon and teaspoon measurements are for proper measuring spoons, NOT regular kitchen spoons. A Tablespoon is 15ml and a teaspoon is 5ml and they should be level, not heaped.