GROWN UP STICKY TOFFEE BUNDT

This sticky toffee pudding recipe that I've adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe has become one that I like to crack out on special occasions (Christmas Day for example!). It's a proper showstopper. The gorgeous sticky toffee sponge bundt looks stunning with little golden brown caramel popcorn jewels scattered on top. The best part of the pudding however is that it is laced with a generous helping of amaretto whilst the caramel sauce is spiked with a good helping of Madeira to make it a bake that is most definitely just for the grown ups!

So as this is a recipe that I've adapted I'm not going to talk about how you can change the recipe too much. I will say that if you want to look at Jamie's original recipe you can do so by clicking here. It's still got booze in it so it's still one that's for adults only! 

I will just give a bit of advice about the tea. You can get flavored teas in lots of supermarkets nowadays and I like to use a spiced apple variety I have as it compliments the cinnamon and nutmeg that is part of the boozy date paste that goes into making this cake. If you can't specifically find spiced apple tea bags then you can use another complimentary flavor of tea bag instead or if you want to use loose leaf tea that's OK too but obviously make sure you strain the leaves out of the tea before adding it into the cake batter.

Right let's get onto my version then. You're going to love the salty popcorn topping on this cake too. If for some reason you don't like popcorn, you can leave it off and just enjoy the pudding with the sauce instead. 12 portions minimum from the recipe below, more if you give out smaller slices;

Sticky Toffee Pudding

For The Pudding

450g Chopped Dates

100ml Amaretto

4 Spiced Apple Tea Bags

1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Large Pinch Of Grated Nutmeg

170g Unsalted Butter

170g Golden Caster Sugar

170g Dark Muscavado Sugar

4 Large Eggs

340g Self Raising Flour

For The Topping

250g Unsalted Butter

125g Golden Caster Sugar

125g Dark Muscavado Sugar

50ml Madeira

300ml Double Cream

Handful Of Salted Popcorn

1. Start your prep the night before by soaking the dates in the amaretto overnight. Do this in an airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to use.
2. The next day, pour 200ml of boiling water into a jug with the spiced apple tea bags and leave for ten minutes. Remove the boozy dates from the fridge, discard the tea bags from the jug and pour the spiced apple tea over the dates. Add in the cinnamon and nutmeg and leave to one side for ten minutes.
3. Take a stick blender and blend the date mixture into a smooth paste. You can leave some chunks of date in there if you like a bit of texture to your pudding. Leave the date paste to one side for later.
4. At this point, turn your oven on to 180 degrees (160 fan) and grease thoroughly a 26cm bundt  tin with some butter.
5. Next, take the butter, golden caster and dark muscavado sugar and beat until fluffy and well combined. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until well combined.
6. Add in the flour and gently fold it through the cake mixture until you see no streaks of flour. Add in the boozy date paste and fold this through the batter until evenly distributed before transferring the mixture to the bundt tin. Level out the mixture and then pop in the oven for 45-50 minutes until  an inserted skewer comes out clean. 
7. When the pudding is nearly baked, melt the butter for the sauce in saucepan on a medium heat before adding in the sugars. Stir through the sugars well combined before adding in the Madeira and double cream. 
8. Keep stirring and bring the mixture to a boil before reducing to a simmer for five minutes to form your caramel sauce. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer to a serving jug.
9. Remove the pudding from the oven and carefully remove it from the tin onto a wooden board. Brush the pudding all over with a thin layer of the caramel sauce before arranging the popcorn on top. Brush the popcorn with some more sauce so that it is well coated and sticks to the top of the pudding.

You now have a gorgeous pudding ring with a sticky toffee glaze that should shimmer under the light. It's almost too glorious to cut into but you'll get over that as soon as you nosh on your first slice. For me, this pudding must be eaten hot so cut yourself a chunk of the pudding, pour over some of the sauce and pop it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes so that its piping hot and be prepared to enter pure pudding paradise. It's unashamedly bad for you what with the amaretto in the pudding and the Madeira in the sauce but some times even grown ups need to be a little bit naughty don't they!