Ok, so apparently getting in the swing of 'thinking Blog' when I cook might take a bit of getting used to.. I keep forgetting my camera and only remembering half way through cooking something that I'm meant to be telling you all about it. So, my bad that this post only has the 'after' photos - I'll practice, I promise.
Anyway, a week or so ago I was cordially invited to my dad's office party (I know, rock n' roll, right?), and said that I'd make something for them so there was some kind of pudding available. I won't lie, it was partially for me to make sure I actually got a pudding, because a BBQ without pudding is like a picnic without.. Pudding. It's wrong. And I really love pudding. But Dad couldn't decide what I should make - his only suggestion was the Chocolate Beer Cake I'd made them a week before, and I didn't want to repeat myself (although I will, so that I can take photos and show you how amazing it is). So I settled on trying out Delia Smith's Sticky Toffee Loaf Cake with Fudge Icing instead. Sounds amazing, right? Right.
I've grown up with Mrs Smith's cook book being referred to as The Bible, so I know that pretty much any recipe she comes up with is fool-proof. Fiddly? Yes, occasionally, but oh my life are they worth it. If you're wanting a good base point for any kind of cooking, Delia is your girl. This recipe is actually from the 'Delia's Cakes' book that a friend at uni got me for my birthday, which has become on of my all time favourite recipe books of all time very quickly. It covers everything, from tin liners to celebration cakes - trust me, it's an investment for any would-be cake creator.
So here goes, your fail safe guide to Sticky Toffee Cake, a la Delia.
Ingredients
- 110g dates (I used the pre-chopped dried ones you get in packets and they worked fine)
- 50g pecan nuts
- 110g spreadable butter
- 50g black treacle (due to cupboard deficiencies I only had 20g, but I made up for it with extra golden syrup - I just got the combined amount to add up to 225g)
- 175g golden syrup
- 150g milk
- 2 large eggs
- 225g plain flour
- 1 level teaspoon mixed spice
- 2 level teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
For the icing
- 4 tablespoons of evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons dark brown soft sugar
- 50g butter
- 150g golden icing sugar (I used regular icing sugar and that worked just fine)
Preferably you'll need a loaf tin - I'm not sure how it'd do in a regular cake tin because it's much further for the heat to get to the middle. It'd probably manage just fine, but if you've got access to a rectangular tin that's probably safest. Either way, line it with traditional liner if you have it - I just used grease-proof paper and had no problems! Preheat your oven to 150 degrees, and then it's time for the sticky-toffee goodness!
- For ease of getting the treacle out of the tin (it's an absolute nightmare because it's so thick and sticky), place it in a pan of barely simmering water. This will warm it enough to allow you to get it out much more easily, just mind your fingers on the metal!
- Next you need to chop all the pecan nuts into small chunks, and if your dates aren't pre-cut you'll need to prepare them as well. Make sure they're all a similar size to keep the consistency steady throughout the cake. I actually used a pestle and mortar on the pecans rather than slicing them - give them a good bashing to break them up; it's both effective AND good stress relief.
- For the cake mixture you'll need to place the butter, treacle and syrup in a large saucepan and melt them together gradually until they're smooth. Once they're combined fully take the pan off the heat and leave it for a few minutes to cool, then mix in the milk.
- Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and then beat the eggs and add them to the syrup mixture. Once they're combined, gradually whisk the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients until they're fully combined and you have a smooth batter. Then you'll need to stir in the pecans and about two thirds of the dates.
- Pour this mixture into the prepared tin and then lightly drop the remaining dates onto the top of it. Use a skewer or the tip of a knife to push them gently to just below the surface - this will give you a more even spread of fruit throughout the finished cake. Extra gooey-yumminess for all!
- Place the cake in the oven (if you're not using a fan oven put it on a lower shelf) so that the top of the cake is aligned with the centre of the oven. It'll give it the most even spread of heat so that it cooks all sides at the same rate. Cook for between an hour and 1/2 to an hour and 50 minutes - until the top is rounded and slightly cracked. Once it's cooked, remove from the oven and leave it to cool inside the tin for about half an hour. Then you can turn it out and leave it to cool thoroughly before icing it.
And speaking of icing..
- Melt together the evaporated milk, brown sugar and butter in a pan on a gentle heat, and then simmer for a further 5 minutes. Once that's done, tip into a bowl and leave it to cool.
- Sift in the icing sugar and whisk it all together until smooth - it'll look something like this!
(As you can see, this is where I remembered I had a camera..)
- Once it's all smooth and the cake is cool, use a palette knife to spread the icing all over the top! Mine wasn't quite as smooth as the picture, but I think that'll come with practice of combining the ingredients at the optimum heat and everything - it still tasted phenomenal, so I'm not moaning!
*Handy hint from our Delia: If you keep the cake inside its liner and store for a day or so before eating, it improves the texture and general feel. However, I can't say that any I've made have lasted long enough for me to test this - it always seems too good to wait!!*
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do! It went down particularly well at the party - I came home with an empty tin and a full stomach, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one eating it!
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