Gluten-Free Sticky Date Pudding with Toffee Sauce
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1¾ cups packed pitted dates (about 10 ounces)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
  • For toffee sauce:
  • 1¾ sticks (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1½ cups packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1-2 Tablespoons of bourbon (I used Makers Mark)
Instructions
  1. Instructions:
  2. For pudding:
  3. Preheat oven to 375°F. and butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan (2 inches deep), knocking out excess flour.
  4. Coarsely chop dates and in a 1½- to 2-quart saucepan simmer dates in water, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda. (Mixture will foam.) Let mixture stand 20 minutes.
  5. While mixture is standing, into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating after each addition until just combined. Fold in pecans and date mixture and with a wooden spoon stir batter until just well-combined.
  6. Pour batter into baking pan and set pan in a larger baking pan. Add enough hot water to larger pan to reach halfway up sides of smaller pan. Cover the pan with a piece of buttered parchment paper and then a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Seal it as tightly as you can. Bake on the middle rack of oven until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes*. Remove smaller pan from water bath. Let pudding cool slightly before serving.
  7. For toffee sauce:
  8. In a 1½- to 2-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderate heat and add brown sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, and stir in cream and vanilla. Simmer sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Cool sauce to warm.
  9. Cut warm pudding into squares. Serve pudding with ice cream and warm sauce.
  10. *The original recipe says 35-40 minutes, but mine was still soupy at that point.
Notes
adapted slightly from Gourmet, May 1998, original recipe here
Recipe by Cafe Johnsonia at https://cafejohnsonia.com/2013/12/gluten-free-spiced-sticky-date-pudding-toffee-sauce.html