Sticky Toffee Pudding - a guest post by Vineetha

Hello people...it's almost Friday and boy am I waiting for the weekend. This week went all busy with work and I can't wait to just sit in my pajamas, push my feet up on my couch and watch TV all day...how I wish I could just do that you know. And some free food would be good too...Lol. Plus its gonna be snowing baaaaaad...I don't even wanna talk about it!

Have I told you that I have some seriously good and kind hearted blogger buddies who eagerly jumped in to help me with sharing some guest posts when I asked them as they knew I would be extra busy this month with house shifting, unpacking, getting used to the new bus route blah blah...?

Today let me introduce you all to a wonderful bloggy buddy and I'm just so glad I met her myself , Vineetha who blogs at Ruchi. I call her Vinee with Love ;-)

Initially Vinee was just another blogger in this vast world of bloggers who used to share her valuable comments & feedback for my posts and I too visited her blog and shared my feedback as well. What kick-started our friendship is after I made my Lil'Appu's first birthday cake and we had a small chain of discussion on the two tiered cake. And then whenever she made a cake on her blog she would ask me to stop by and I would do the same whenever I posted a cake and we both realised - WE LOVE CAKES, cake baking and decorating and shared the same enthusiasm and interest when it came to making cakes :-)

Its just so nice to meet a person to whom you can confidently share your passion and you know you will get some awesome ideas and suggestions. Who cares if we stay continents apart , we frequently message each other and also learn from each other about blogging, photography and its various technicalities.

Apart from cakes, she shares some amazing Food recipes as well, mostly Keralite dishes and several desserts and other cusines. Hope over to her blog to view all her lovely creations!

So when Vinee wanted me to make a choice on what she should share for us, I had no doubt in my mind and asked her to make a cake  And what a lovely cake she has come up with...Let's just drool at her pics for sometime before we read ahead now shall we? :-)

 

Manju's Eating Delights is one of my favorite blogs which I check out on regular basis whenever she updates it, we both share the same passion when it comes to baking and cake decoration and that's what brought us so close together. Whenever I update my FB status with cake related doubts or suggestion she never fails to respond and always pour down with her suggestions. The one thing which I like most about blogging is the way friends help each other with tips and suggestions and Manju is one among them. I owe it to Manju for making an About Me page and Recipe Index on my blog .

When she asked me to do a guest post as she is busy settling down in her new house I was so happy to help her out . I have been brainstorming for a recipe for few days now but she helped me out and choose that a cake would be apt as it speaks about friendship. I kept bugging her again whether she want this or that but unlike my hubby who never gives me an answer when I ask for a choice, she gave me a reply and made my job easier !

I have made this sticky toffee pudding before as well and usually if I am not very happy with the taste of a cake I never make it again, so should I say that this is a delicious cake/dessert indeed ? The plus point of this pudding is ,its a warm pudding so it can enjoyed and eaten even when the weather outside is chilly or freezing. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding  

Recipe adapted from -  BBC Good Food 

Ingredients

Plain flour -  1 1/2 cup (175 gm )

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Cloves powder - 1/8 tsp

Nutmeg powder - 1/8 tsp

Salt - pinch

Eggs - 2

Butter - 1/3 cup (85 gm)

Golden caster sugar - 3/4 cup ( 175 gm )

Dates (stoned)- 200 gm (I used medjool dates which has toffee flavour)

Black tea - 250 ml   (not too strong)

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

For toffee sauce     

Light Muscovado sugar  -100 gm

Unsalted butter -100gm

Double cream -150 ml

Method

In a saucepan add  stoned date and  tea and cook for about 4-5 minutes until its soft.

Add baking soda to the mixture and  puree it in a blender.

Sift flour,baking powder,salt, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder,cloves powder and keep it aside.

Cream  butter and sugar in an electirc beater.

Add slightly beaten eggs little by little and beat.

Add dry ingredients and beat in.

Finally add dates puree and fold in.

Pour the batter into a greased cake tin or pudding bakewares and bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

In the meantime place  light muscuvado sugar,butter and cream in a saucepan on a low heat until the sugar dissolves and the sauce gets a toffee flavour.

Serve the pudding with warm toffee sauce.If you are serving it later just pop the pudding in microwave for few seconds and serve with warm sauce.

What a fabulous recipe and the pics are even more gorgeous…Don’t you just wanna go and get baking this right away? I've never had a sticky toffee pudding before and I’m seriously tempted now :-) So go and give it a try and let us know how you liked it.

Have a great weekend you all!

-Manju