Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Until last night I was a virgin.

A sticky toffee pudding virgin.



You Brits sit there, mouths agape, shocked to imagine that someone has not tasted the sweet goodness of your native pudding.

I’d always wanted to taste the treat, based on the appeal of its name…

Sticky

Toffee

Pudding

Each word sounds delicious on its own but combine all three together and oh my!

The shameless pudding lured me from the bakery window…"Eat Me" it whispered.

You know how it is.



I succumbed. Gleefully. Sinfully. Savouring every morsel.

And now I’m hooked.

Just like you Brits hooked me on HobNobs.

Whilst doing a little research on the pudding, I discovered that sticky toffee pudding has been in existence less than 40 years.

Apparently, it was first created in the 1970s by the late restaurateur Francis Coulson, at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in Cumbria, England.

However, chef Simon Hopkinson claims here that the recipe may have existed previously in Lancashire AND, wait for it… it’s origins may have been in CANADA!

Controversy aside, I must recreate the recipe. Because at $5 Canadian (that’s 2.6 British Pounds or 4.2 US Dollars) I refuse to shell out that kind of money each time I get a craving.

No, don’t tell me to buy the tinned stuff…



Send me your best recipe.

I found this recipe on the BBC website but with so many options, I don’t know if it’s the one I should try.





Is STP best on its own or served with whipped cream, clotted cream or ice cream?

Is it best served hot or room temperature?

And which beverage is the perfect accompaniment?

And finally…

Tell me your own sticky toffee pudding memories.

Hurry bitches, I have needs!

52 comments:

  1. Well, I'm glad you ate it, instead of sitting on it.

    Ice cream would be a good topping.

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  2. Brits ... it not even looks like Pudding. Maybe its some left over thing from the Great Depression.

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  3. Oh my.... *she says faintly* ... that looks soooo good! I would love to try one.

    But after reading the BBC recipe and finding out one of those things has 39 grams of fat, I think it would send me straight to the toilet. Since I no longer have a gall bladder, fatty foods are not such a good idea.

    Unless I get one and eat it at home.... hmmmm. That may be the right idea. Stick close to home to avoid embarassing moments.

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  4. I laughed like a drain when I read that first sentence! Good job I csrried on, or I would have thought you to be a most dreadful liar.

    Speaking as a Brit, STP is best served (not too) hot with custard and a very large glass of dry white wine to take the edge off the sweetness.

    I'll come back for the memory disclosure as I must go to work now.

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  5. I'm hardpressed to believe you as any kind of virgin.

    Now you are a STP whore. One has to be careful spelling that out, but would the typo be wrong? Te-heee!

    Try it with vanilla ice cream. I bet that would be amazing.

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  6. If you are going to make your own you have to remember the time-honoured ritual that goes alongside it. It is highly important that you follow this procedure.

    First, in order to ensure purity and cleanliness of body and soul you have to take all your clothes off. Then you have to dance around the ingredients three times (kinky boots optional) waving a stick of celery and proclaiming "STP is good for me."

    Next yuo need to take photographs of your self performing said ritual in the nude to all of us in the UK in order for us to ascertain that the essential ritual has been performed. Additionally, you must set the camera to auto, bend over and grab your ankles (kinky boots optional again) and send the snap to ...oh I don't know...me.

    Only then will you be allowed to partake of your scrumptious STP.

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  7. Miss MJ ,best served hot with clotted cream . When I get back from work I wil dig out the Nigella lawson recipe , which is THE best recipe to make at home as it makes its own sauce , so you dont have to frig about making the sauce seperately , my Nieces and Nephews used to beg me to make it when I visited

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  8. If you are concidering sticky toffee pudding farts as Mr Eroswing suggested , please ensure it has cooled sufficiently first

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  9. Hot with whipped cream, washed down with a nice cup of tea - milk, no sugar.
    Sx

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  10. Here you go Miss MJ this pudding is almost better than sex :-)

    100 g dark muscovado sugar
    175 g self-raising flour
    125 ml full-fat milk
    1 egg
    1 tsp vanilla, extract
    50 g unsalted butter, melted
    200 g chopped rolled dates

    For the sauce


    200 g dark muscovado sugar
    25 g unsalted butter, approximately, in little blobs
    500 ml boiling water


    Directions:


    Preheat the oven to 190 ºC/gas mark 5 (note: about 375F) and butter a 1
    ½ litre capacity pudding dish.

    Combine the 100g dark muscovado sugar with the flour in a large bowl.
    Pour the milk into a measuring jug, beat in the egg, vanilla and melted
    butter and then pour this mixture over the sugar and flour, stirring —
    just with a wooden spoon — to combine. Fold in the dates then scrape
    into the prepared pudding dish. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look very
    full: it will do by the time it cooks.

    For the sauce

    Sprinkle over the 200g dark muscovado sugar and dot with the butter.
    Pour over the boiling water (yes really!) and transfer to the oven. Set
    the timer for 45 minutes, though you might find the pudding needs 5 or
    10 minutes more. The top of the pudding should be springy and spongy
    when it’s cooked; underneath, the butter, dark muscovado sugar and
    boiling water will have turned into a rich, sticky sauce. Serve with
    vanilla ice cream, crème fraiche, double or single cream as you wish.

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  11. eat it hot with whipped or double cream
    although if you open the fridge and theres a left over bit there calling to you cold is good too

    i'm not sure if this is the same as what we refer to as sticky date pudding but in the days before they talked properly my kids called it dicky date pudding :)

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  12. Oh yum...it's too early in the morning to be craving desserts!!
    Personally I prefer it warm with vanilla ice cream - I find it very rich and the ice cream kinda balances it out.

    *drool*

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  13. Actually, I prefer golden Syrup Pudding...

    The main problem with all of these things is that they are always 10 times better when made by your grandmother. My grandmother is dead so I shall never be able to taste many of the delights that I had as a kid. Sniff.

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  14. Actually I prefer the tinned stuff.

    I agree with IVD - eat warm with thick custard made from a packet of Birds.
    Bird's Custard is probably going to be an expensive import as well.

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  15. I thought STP was a sexually transmitted disease or a hallucinogenic drug.

    I prefer bread and butter pudding.

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  16. Actually, STP is an engine oil, but I'm sure that this is pure conincidence...

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  17. Hot with french vanilla icecream and crushed toffee over the top of it. Chocolate flakes too if you are feeling super indulgent.

    Did someone say bread and butter pudding? With sultanas? Mmmm.

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  18. You need some spotted dick inside you.

    I don't eat puddings. My body is a temple.

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  19. Famulus has it, if you think STP is divine wait till you try Golden Syrup Pudding . . .

    Custard please

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  20. If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?

    Pink Floyd

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  21. I want that. The closest I've come is sticky toffee pudding ice cream, and I'm pretty sure that's the odd mentally disturbed cousin of what you've pictured here.

    Maybe I'll try the Nigella recipe too. Yum.

    As for HobNobs, I've had that unfortunate addiction for a few years now...finally found my connection, a little coffee shop around the corner..

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  22. A reminder that "If you don't EAT YER MEAT
    Yew can't 'ave any pudding!"

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  23. BITCHES: Good heavens! So many responses to sticky toffee pudding. What a sweet way to start my day!

    I’ll catch up with your comments in an hour or two.

    In the meantime, can anyone tell me why I’m not seeing the trash can icon in my comments box?

    I don’t see it on several other blogs either…it seems to have disappeared.

    Please continue on with pudding discussion as well ‘til I return.

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  24. EROS: Well, I'm glad you ate it, instead of sitting on it.

    Thank you for that vote of confidence.

    MAGO: Would you like to offer us a German sweet in its place?

    PONYGIRL: Unless I get one and eat it at home

    Get and eat what?

    A gall bladder?

    Would you like some fava beans and a nice chianti with that?

    IVD: I laughed like a drain

    Is that a Briticism or is it limited to Norwich?

    I’m not familiar with that colloquialism.

    As for your “hot custard” thanks but I’ll pass on that.

    CYBERPOOF: I suggest you go sit on a kransekake.

    GINRO: *waves celery stick at Ginro and approaches him from behind*

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  25. BEAST: my Nieces and Nephews used to beg me to make it when I visited

    Perhaps they were trying to distract you into the kitchen to keep you occupied and out of their hair.

    I assure you that I’m not considering sticky toffee pudding farts.

    I really don’t know where you get this image of me.

    SCARLET: You make a convincing case.

    BEAST: this pudding is almost better than sex

    That’s because it’s been such a long time since you’ve had sex.

    Aside from that, Mistress MJ thanks you for taking the time to provide her with this recipe.

    It makes a nice change from Ma Beasty’s chickpea curry.

    Can I use muffin tins as a pudding dish or do I need a special piece of bakeware?

    KYLIE: Welcome to Infomaniac!

    Is “dicky date pudding” an Australian delicacy?

    WHOOPSADAISY: Please do not drool or leave other bodily fluids on this blog.

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  26. FAMULUS: I miss my late grandmother’s baking (and my late mother’s baking) and instead of trying to duplicate their fabulous butter tarts amongst other recipes, I choose to imagine them instead.

    I often think about the happy times we spent together in the kitchen.

    *sheds a tear with Famulus*

    KAZ: thick custard made from a packet of Birds

    Thankfully you specified “Bird’s custard” as I had visions of Mr. Frobisher’s poor pigeon CooCoo in a packet.

    GARFY: I’ve never tasted bread and butter pudding.

    Bread pudding, yes, but not bread and butter pudding.

    What am I missing?

    FAMULUS: STP is also a French abbreviation for please… S'il Te Plaît.

    Could this all be connected somehow?

    Is there a cosmic plan at work?

    T-BIRD: Sultanas?

    Is Beaky about?

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  27. GEOFF: You need some spotted dick inside you.

    Why Geoffrey!

    I don't eat puddings. My body is a temple.

    The Temple of Doom?

    FROBI: Golden Syrup Pudding?

    Tell me more about this syrupy goodness! What is it?

    SCARLET: What has Beast done now?

    XL: And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
    I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.

    LEAH: Do you have a “London Drugs” store in the U.S.?

    HobNobs are often on sale there.

    COPPENS: Hey, Coppens, leave us kids alone!

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  28. Miss MJ this recipe is made in a oval or square oven dish (Pyrex sort of mularkey about an inch and a half to 2 inches deep and about 10 inches square or oval not the traditional pudding shape you showed in your pics) serves about 4- 6 good sized portions

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  29. BEAST: Would you like to bring your oven dish over and bake it for me?

    I'll be drinking martinis as you slave away in the kitchen.

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  30. It's kransekage.

    It's yummy. I wouldn't sit on it though.

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  31. I want some...NOW!!!!

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  32. CYBERPOOF: That's what I said.

    KranseKAKA.

    RANDOM: I'll send Beast over to yours when I'm finished with him, shall I?

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  33. MJ: NO..... not gall bladder, and definitely not fava beans, yuk...
    and I have to say not Chianti either, as I cannot stomach wine of any kind.

    Just the pudding, the whole pudding and nothing but the pudding.... well, and the sauce too.... and some cream....

    Geoff said...
    You need some spotted dick inside you.


    Any dick that gets in me better not be spotted! That is all I am going to say.... ahem.... *blushes*

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  34. If he's got toffee pudding, send him over. If not, no thanks.

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  35. ...no offense, Beast. I've got all the "beasts" I can handle with my hubby and two kids. That's all I'm saying.

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  36. will there be an STP farts link soon then?

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  37. PONYGIRL: You don’t drink wine?

    Yay! More for me!

    RANDOM: Beast is kind of stinky but I like him anyway.

    He’s not to be trusted around your fruit bowl though.

    VOICES: Why must everything I bake be farted upon?

    Sometimes I just like to eat the baked goods!

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  38. Boo! It's all Twinkies and cupcakes in my world. I got nothing, so please post any recipes you get.

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  39. Whatever.

    It goes great with Champagne.

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  40. I get the feeling we'll soon see a video called "toffee pudding farts".

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  41. Mistress, have you gone soft on us? This is so Martha Stewart of you. I would have thought that you could have inserted at least one picture of a British hottie to go with this post. The hotties are what keep me coming back.

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  42. HELLO???
    Did someone call for a British Hottie ???

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  43. i don't have a gall bladder either .. maybe that is why i always feel queasy after over indulging. hmmm.

    dates, dates, glorious dates. I'll take them without the bakin', thanks.

    ps i have cakes AND hotties (well, arse ..) over at my place!

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  44. BITCHES: As I am far too busy for the rest of the day to respond to each of you personally, I suggest you visit Carnalis (see my Blogroll) as she is a British hottie with recipes.

    Ignore Beast. Unless you wish to visit his blog and ridicule his "Man Bag".

    See you Thursday.

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  45. So what's his name MJ? You seem rather...distracted, this past number of days, lol.

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  46. MJ, you can have all my shares of wine for the rest of eternity. Gladly.... blech!

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  47. This can reminds me very much on "merde d'artiste" ...

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  48. The ham shanks thought it was an engine oil additive, when all along it was heaven in a stodgy desert.

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  49. *blush* and you would have caught me with my knickers showing ..

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