The best sticky toffee pudding ever?

My dad rarely cooks anything, not even a boiled egg, however when I was young he and I decided we wanted to find the best bread and butter pudding recipe and we took it in turns to chose and make them. We must have made 7+ over one winter. He liked a Robert Carrier one best, whereas my favourite was a Gary Rhodes recipe, probably as it was sweeter.

A few months ago we were away for the weekend and the deal included dinner at the hotel. After dinner we split a sticky toffee pudding, which we both fought over the last scraps and agreed it was one of the best we'd tried.

The next night my other half disappeared downstairs, leaving me in the hotel room. I wondered what he was up to until he returned with two dishes of the sticky toffee pudding (he had leant from the night before that one wasn't enough!).

The taste stayed with me and since I have been thinking that I should try and make the best ever sticky toffee pudding. When my Saturday treat night landed on a weekend where we were doing major landscaping to the garden and lots of physical effort I decided it was time to give the first recipe a go. Unlike the 7+ attempts last time, I think this time the first recipe I chose might well be The One! Sticky and toffee, rich and sweet without being cloying. We all agreed it was one to have again.

It was from a Simon Hopkinson recipe. I did 1.5 times the recipe and used a 9'' cake tin.


I started by lining a tin. I used two strips and over lapped the edge to make it easy to lift the sponge out after baking.


I then finely chopping the dates and then soaking them in boiling water until the water was lukewarm



I then place the sugar, eggs and butter (as ever I used Stork margarine rather than butter) in the bowl of my food processor, followed by the flour and some Ndali vanilla powder (my new go to rather than vanilla bean paste).




Once the dates were lukewarm I also added them


And blended thoroughly




I poured the mixture into the tin and baked for about 45 mins




The next step was to make not one but two sauces.

Both were the same method - butter, dark brown sugar and double cream in a pan, stirred and heating and allowed it to come to the boil for a few minutes.







However, one was darker with more sugar and less cream which was poured over the top of the baked cake.







Once on top I popped it under the grill until it bubbled - and left it a bit too long as I got distracted!




The second sauce was lighter and had less sugar in and was used to pour around the pudding when it was served.




The recipe suggested serving it with double cream but I think a sticky toffee pudding is only a sticky toffee pudding if its served with custard!

I absolutely recommend you all try this recipe next time you want a treat.

Christchurch Food Festival

I have been meaning to write up this post for a while, but life has got in the way. A couple of weeks ago my mum and I went to the Christchurch food festival in Dorest. It's a well established festival and has a food market and various events. On the Saturday there were various demo's and we attended two. The first was Paul Potts from local restaurant Splinters and the second was the lovely James Martin.

Paul Potts made the following recipes:

Seabass fillet on tomato and red onion tarte tatin

Pan fry 5 cherry tomatoes, halved, season, add basil oil and chopped red onion and put into a 4 inch flan dish. You can arrange the tomatoes to all face the same way if you like. Top with a circle of puff pastry and bake in a hot oven for about 15 mins until golden.

Take a fillet of sea bass and at the wide end cut out a 'V' shape. This should remove any stray bones. Sear the fish in a hot pan, skin side down. Once brown and crispy turn over and top with a knob of butter.

Turn out the tart, top with the sea bass and drizzle with basil oil and a little balsamic vinegar and garnish with pea shoots.

Tuna Warm Salad Nicoise with Basil Oil

Boil 6 asparagus spears for a couple of minutes. Add a handful of sugar snaps to warm through. You want them to still retain their crunch. Whilst they are cooking fry 3 cooked new potatoes, cut in half, a few cherry tomatoes (roasted if desired) and a few olives.

Make a dressing of 3 parts oil, one part white wine vinegar, wholegrain mustard, chopped parsley, chives and seasoning.

Season a tuna steak, sear in a little oil. Only cook for a few minutes on each side as it is best served pink. Add a knob of butter to the top and put to one side to rest.

Serve the vegetables, dressed with the vinegarette and topped with seared tuna and pea shoots.

Scallop and Bacon Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts

Remove the roe from the scallops and the little muscle. Add a little oil to a hot pan and fry the scallops and some strips of bacon.

Julienne (finely shred) a carrot, courgette and half a leek. Add the fried strips of bacon, salad leaves, vinegarette and seasoning and toss. Top with the scallops and a drizzle of basil oil.

Scallops with Curried Parsnip and Apple Puree

Prepare the scallops as above.

Fry some cooked parsnips and apple together, add a little curry powder and seasoning and stock and blend to a smooth puree.

Serve by placing each scallop on a spoonful of puree.

James Martin made the following recipes:

Pea and Watercress Soup

Sweat one crushed clove of garlic and 1 finely shredded shallot in a some butter.

Bring some chicken or vegetable stock to the boil and add a glass of white wine. Add, a bunch of parsley, the garlic and shallot, a bag of watercress (holding back a few sprigs for garnish). frozen peas and seasoning. Blend.

Boil and egg in water for 5.5 minutes. Peel the egg carefully. Dip in flour, then beaten egg and then breadcrumbes and deep fry until golden.

Blanch some asparagus and then warm through in a little butter.

Serve the soup, topped with the asparagus and the egg with the top cut off, a sprig of water cress and a piece of crispy bacon.

Lamb Salad

Blanch some asparagus and put in iced water.

Remove the sinew from a loin of lamb and quicklysear in a pan in rapeseed oil. The pop it into a hot oven for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour over some sweet chilli sauce and put to one side to rest.

Make a pickle from some chopped radishes, the blanched asparagus, chopped cucumber, shallots, turnip (sliced on a mandolin), lime zest and then pour over a dressing made by putting white wine vinegar, a big pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt and the juice of a lime in a hot pan.

Serve by placing the pickle on a plate. Topped with slices of the lamb, a few sprigs of watercress and a few mint leaves. Drizzle with rapeseed oil.

Summer Pudding

Take a dariole mould or a tea cup and line with cling film. Cut the crusts off some cheap white bread and cut circles for the bottom of the mould and strips for the side.

Blend some fresh strawberries with some frozen berries, icing sugar and a little water and sieve to make a sauce, dip the bread in the sauce and line the mould. Mix more fresh strawberries with frozen berries and basil and squash into the mould, add a spoonful of clotted cream to the mould and top with a rough of bread dipped in the sauce. Release from the mould and drizzle over the rest of the sauce. Top with fresh berries, a clotted cream quenelle, a basil leaf, a dusting of icing sugar and some sugar work. You can make a sugar swirl by wrapping cooled sugar syrup around a steel (for a smaller one) or a rolling pin (for a larger one).