I used to work in a restaurant on the top floor of a gorgeous museum with a view of all of St. John’s. Everyone reading this from St. John’s is smiling right now because they know exactly what I’m talking about. It was a brand new kitchen and the menu was evolving at the beginning. The standard lunch fare included hearty seafood casseroles, chowder, mussels, sandwiches and pizzas, but the real treat was dessert. It was ever changing according to the whims and amount of free time of the excellent chefs. Sometimes it’d be a Guiness stout cake, stacked in a few layers with a rich frosting, and sometimes it’d be a delicate pastry with cream and peaches. But my favourite was a dessert I’d never heard of before called Sticky Toffee Pudding. The restaurant’s manager grew up with it, and we should all be so lucky. It’s simple to make, but so rich and decadent that it seems like such a guilty treat. And it is, because there’s enough butter and cream in the cake and the brown sugar sauce to make a Frenchman (or woman) pass out. Ask my French roommate.
But then I saw a recipe for the dish on one of my favourite blogs, “Oh She Glows.” It was a link to the author’s recipe in VegNews, so I knew the recipe was tested a million times and would be worth making for sure. I just adjusted the already vegan recipe to make it gluten-free. What I didn’t consider was that a generous serving of this would keep me up until 5am the next morning, at which time I tucked myself into bed not out of tiredness but out of knowledge that the sun would soon rise and it was about time I force myself to sleep. Thank goodness I don’t have a 9-5. I think that every day, but sometimes the lack of a six-figure salary leaves me on the fence about it. Not that day.
So, if you’re even a little sugar sensitive, don’t eat this for dessert, or make you only have a small portion. And give yourself a good 4 hours to digest before sleep. Really, it’s the perfect afternoon or lunch dessert treat. Yes, lunch can have dessert. Ask my French roommate.
But do make this “lightened up” version of the classic (the author already cut a bunch of the sugar and fat, but kept a lot of the flavour. I cut the pecans, not for fear of fat, but because I didn’t have any). I think it’s British. For a country that generally doesn’t like the French, they really do agree on butter, which is too bad. I like French people…
(Vegan and Gluten-free) Sticky Toffee Pudding
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 1/2 cups pitted dates, roughly chopped (try using scissors)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine), melted
1/2 cup (unpacked) brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp guar gum (or xanthan gum)
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
For the sauce:
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup or agave nectar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unpacked brown sugar
3 tablespoons Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 tablespoon vanilla (or the seeds of one vanilla bean)
1 tablespoon almond milk (or water if you don’t want to open a container of almond milk for the sake of 1 tbsp…)
1/4 teaspoon salt
To serve:
Vegan ice cream, optional (Preferably not banana, since it makes the cake seem a little medicinal. Vanilla is best. Coconut is not my favourite either…Really there aren’t any dairy-free vanilla ice creams I like…so I skipped it. I’d rather serve it with a glass of almond milk since I just opened a whole container for the sake of 1 tbsp…)
Instructions:
Grease a 9-inch pie dish or an 8-inch square pan with earth balance or another vegan margarine, or oil. It’s better to have one that’s too big than too little, since you don’t want the sauce to overflow. In fact, make sure you place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet when you put it in the oven, just to be safe.
In a medium saucepan, bring the almond milk (or water) to a simmer. Add the dates, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. It should froth a little. If it doesn’t, don’t worry about it.
Preheat oven to 325 F.
In a large bowl, cream or whisk together the margarine and brown sugar for a few minutes. Add the date mixture. Then add the cinnamon, salt, guar gum, and sieved rice and tapioca flours, and stir until just combined. Don’t use the whisk for this or it might all get glued up. Pour the mixture into the greased dish and bake in preheated oven for about 27 minutes or until the cake gently springs back when you touch it. You can also stick a toothpick in there and see if it comes out clean.
Meanwhile, to make the sauce, bring all the sauce ingredients to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking to blend. Reduce the heat to low, whisking frequently. Simmer about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring to prevent burning. Remove from heat and set aside.
When cake is done, let cool slightly then prick with a fork or toothpick all over, creating about 100 small holes (I counted out 10 sets of 10. I think that’s the weight lifter in me. I am not a weight lifter. I lost count. Fortunately, the recipe is forgiving). Pour 2/3rds of the still warm sauce over top of cake and smooth out with a spoon. If the sauce has cooled too much, reheat it first. It should be warm to soak into the cake.
Do not eat this directly from the dish. That’s a recipe for a very long, sleepless night. That’s not what I did, but the result was the same. I actually served this to 5 other people and I still was up all night, no thanks to any of those people. Instead, spoon portions of cake onto plates, drizzle with remaining 1/3 caramel sauce, and optionally serve with vegan ice cream or a tall glass of almond milk.
Photo credit: chatirygirl/flickr.
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