Sticky Toffee Pudding

Method

Malted Vanilla Cream

1. Add the powdered gelatin into a small dish along with the cold water. Stir to combine and then set to one side to bloom for 10 minutes. If using leaf gelatin, simply soak the sheets in a bowl of ice water. 

• • 7g Powdered Gelatin 250 Bloom (or 2.5 sheets of any grade of gelatin leaf) 
  • 42g Cold Water

2. Into a small saucepan, add 300g of the cream, the malt powder, beans scraped from a fresh vanilla pod and the sugar. Place this onto a medium low heat, whisking to combine until the mixture is steaming. If the malt powder goes a bit lumpy that’s fine as we will blend it. 

• • 420g Double/Heavy Cream
  • 35g Malt Powder (Ovaltine)
  • 1 Fresh Vanilla Pod
  • 15g Caster/White Sugar

3. Remove the mixture from the heat and scoop in the bloomed gelatin powder. Stir this until it has completely dissolved.

4. Pour the mixture into a tall jug and add the remaining cold cream and blend with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in a pinch of flaked sea salt.

• • 180g Double/Heavy Cream
  • Pinch of Flaked Sea Salt
    

5. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and cover the surface with clingfilm. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or ideally overnight. If you want to chill it faster, pour the mixture onto a large baking tray and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. 

Pâte Sucrée

1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter & icing sugar. With a paddle attachment, beat on a medium low speed until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. 

• • 100g Unsalted Butter, Cold & Cubed
  • 70g Icing/Powdered Sugar

2. Add in the egg yolks and beat again until smooth. Scrape down the sides a few times to ensure the egg yolks are completely incorporated. 

• • 50g Egg Yolks

3. Sift in the flour and fine sea salt. Scrape the bottom of a bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure nothing is stuck, then mix on a low speed until it pulls together into a rough dough. 

• • 200g Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • Pinch of Fine Sea Salt

4. Lift the dough onto your work surface and shape it into a rough disc. Wrap it tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate it for an hour (or overnight is good too).

5. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave it at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly so it is malleable.

6. Flour it generously and then use a rolling pin to roll it into an even disc, roughly 3-5mm thick. Lift the dough carefully into a 22.5cm fluted tart ring. 

If you find this is quite challenging or the pastry is cracking, roll it back up into a ball and place the dough between two silicon mats or pieces of parchment paper, then roll it into a disc. This is a safer technique to roll the dough without it splitting. You just need to chill the sheet of dough in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes, and then leave it at room temperature for 1-2 minutes until it is pliable, and then lift it into your tart shell. 

6. Lightly flour your fingertips and press the dough firmly into the base and sides of the tin. Leave a small amount of pastry extending above the top edge of the tin. Fold this excess pastry back over itself and gently press it together to create a slightly thicker rim around the top. This extra thickness helps support the pastry and prevents the sides shrinking down during baking. Place the tart shell back into the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. 

7. Preheat the oven to 175C/345F non-fan assisted (160C/320F fan-assisted). 

8. Scrunch up a piece of baking paper and press this into the chilled tart shell. Fill the tart shell with baking beans or rice and then place it on a tray and straight into the oven to bake.

9. Bake the tart for 30 minutes, then remove the baking beans, and continue to bake for a further 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is an even golden brown colour.

10. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes, and then brush on the egg wash. Place it back into the oven, lowering the temperature to 145C/295F non-fan assisted. Bake until the tart shell is a deep golden brown colour, about another 10-12 minutes. 

11. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 30 minutes. 

Date Sponge

1. Increase the oven to 175C/345F non-fan assisted (160C/320F fan-assisted).

2. Into a small saucepan, add the chopped dates and water. Cook them down over a medium low heat until they have softened. Remove it from the heat to cool for 10 minutes. There should still be a tiny bit of liquid in the pan. As it cools, this will continue to thicken, forming a nice date paste. 

• • 130g Dates, Chopped
  • 105g Water

3. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the soft butter and sugar. Beat this for 1-2 minutes on a medium speed, until smooth and slightly paler. You can also do this with a rubber spatula if you don’t have a mixer.

• • 55g Unsalted Butter, Soft
  • 80g Dark Muscovado Sugar
    

4. Add in the egg, and black treacle and beat again. It won’t mix very well but that’s fine.

• • 70g Whole Egg
  • 15g Black Treacle
    

5. Sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda, and then add this into the bowl. Mix again until the flour has just been incorporated.

• • 105g Self-Raising Flour
  • 4g Bicarbonate of Soda
  • Pinch of Flaked Sea Salt

6. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finally stir in the cooled date paste.

7. Pour the entire mixture into the cooled tart shell, and use a palette knife to smooth it out very evenly. The batter doesn’t ‘settle’ in the oven so it needs to be flat at this point.

8. Place the tart into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The sponge should feel springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Butterscotch Sauce

1. As it is baking, prepare the sauce. Into a medium saucepan, add the sugar, butter and half of the cream. Cook it over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has completely melted.

• • 75g Light Brown Sugar
  • 20g Unsalted Butter
  • 50g Double/Heavy Cream

2. Add in the treacle and continue to cook until it has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 1-2 minutes. 

• • 15g Black Treacle

3. Remove it from the heat and add a big pinch of flaked salt, and the remaining cold cream. Stir to combine.

• • Pinch of Flaked Sea Salt
  • 50g Double/Heavy Cream

4. Finally add in the soy sauce. Start with about 1 tbsp and taste. If you find the sauce is too sweet, add more soy sauce, ½ tbsp at a time until you get your preferred balance of sweetness. 

• • 1-2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

5. Once the tart has baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly for 5 minutes. Then use a skewer to poke holes all over the top.

6. Pour about ½ of the butterscotch sauce all over the tart and spread it out with the back of a spoon so it soaks into the entire sponge. Add a little more sauce if needed.

7. Allow the tart to cool completely. To speed this up, you can place it into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Assembly

1. Remove the malted vanilla cream from the fridge and add it into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or a large bowl if you’re using an electric hand whisk). Add a large round tip nozzle to a piping bag.

2. Whisk the cream until it reaches a medium stiff peak.

3. Add the cream into the piping bag and snip off the end.

4. Take the cooled tart and place it on a rotating cake stand if you have one.

5. Pipe a small bulb of cream onto the outer edge of the tart. Move the nozzle slightly forwards, then release the pressure on the back (not piping any more cream) and gently drag it down and away to create a tapered/tail finish. Repeat this all the way around the edge of the tart.

6. For the next row, pipe each bulb into the gap between the piped shapes in the row below, repeating the same drag-and-flick motion. Continue working in rows towards the centre of the tart until the surface is covered.

7. The tart can be served immediately but you will get cleaner slices if you pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set the cream slightly. Once you have sliced it, let it come to room temperature slightly before eating.