With colder nights well on their way this delicious winter warming recipe is definitely one to try – a rich and flavourful Sticky Date Pudding smothered in Butterscotch Sauce
Posted May 9, 2019, Updated January 6, 2025
There appear to be hundreds of versions of this recipe available, each one claiming to be the best around, but I can tell you that there are a few steps to ensure that your Sticky Date Pudding is one of the best.
That includes soaking your dates in both baking soda and boiling water to soften before you use them, and to make a LOT of butterscotch sauce!
In many recipes using unsalted or salted butter does not make a huge difference, however in this one there is a complete absence of salt, this ensures the sweetness of the dates and brown sugar shines through the buttery goodness.
As with all of my recipes the ingredients are simple pantry staples, I just adore the taste of orange with these sort of rich desserts, so I have added a generous pinch of orange zest, and if you like to have a little added texture walnuts are a great addition too.
But you simply cannot miss the step of the butterscotch sauce. In fact I use it three separate times before it gets eaten! And I will not judge if you increase the measurements and make more for the next day……..
The butterscotch sauce is a simple combination of brown sugar, unsalted butter, cream and a splash of vanilla simmered for a few minutes.
Once the cake is baked and freshly out of the oven poke holes all over the top and pour over a quarter of the butterscotch sauce to add extra moisture to the cake then allow it to stand for twenty minutes to soak in.
This pudding is best served warm, you can either serve it straight away or pop it in the fridge for a few days (and yes you could freeze it), heating both the butterscotch sauce and the dessert to warm. If you are serving straight away, pour a third of the remaining butterscotch sauce over the entire upturned pudding, slice and drizzle additional sauce over each serving and serve with custard, cream or ice cream.
If you like the look of this pudding you will LOVE my divine version of a Caramel Apple Pie, be sure to check that out also.
So onto the recipe for Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce, it is one of life’s great pleasures, a hot sinful dessert on a cold winters night, please enjoy and let me know what you think
Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce
A divine rich Sticky Date pudding smothered in a sweet buttery Butterscotch Sauce, this is a must try!
Ingredients
- 200 g Dates, diced
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Cup Boiling Water, 250 ml
- 100 g Butter, diced and softened
- ¾ Cup Brown Sugar, 150 g, packed
- 2 Eggs
- 1¾ Cup Self Raising Flour, 260 g
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
- 1 Tablespoon Orange Zest, 7 g
- Optional, 1/3 Cup Walnuts, 40 g, diced
Butterscotch Sauce
- 100 g Butter, diced
- 1 Cup Cream, 250 ml
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar, 200 g, packed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, and line the base of a 20cm cake pan with baking paper and grease and flour the sides of the pan.
- In a medium bowl add the diced dates, sprinkle over the baking soda and pour over the boiling water then stir and set aside for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the cake batter.
- In a stand mixer bowl add the softened butter and brown sugar and beat for 4 minutes until pale and creamy then add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between.
- Add the self raising flour, vanilla, cinnamon and orange zest (and diced walnuts if using) and mix until just combined and no flour remains visible.
- With the date mixture gently mash the dates with a fork and pour into the cake batter mixture and fold gently until fully combined.
- Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the middle.
- While the cake is cooking prepare the butterscotch sauce, in a small saucepan add the butter, cream and brown sugar.
- Over a medium heat bring the mixture to the boil, stirring occasionally, once boiling allow to boil un-stirred for 2-3 minutes then remove from the heat and set aside until the cake is cooked.
- Once the cake has baked, remove from the oven and using a kebab skewer pierce dozens of deep holes all over the cake.
- Pour 1/4 of the butterscotch sauce over the cake, spreading with a pastry brush to ensure the entire cake is covered in sauce, allow the cake to sit for 20 minutes before turning it out on serving plate.
- If serving straight away pour 1/3 of the remaining sauce over the pudding, slice and serve each piece of cake with more butterscotch sauce and your choice of cream, custard or ice cream.
- If not serving this straight away, once cold, store the cake covered in the fridge with the remaining sauce, then when ready to serve, heat both the pudding and the sauce in the microwave and repeat step 3 above.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 692Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 136mgSodium: 746mgCarbohydrates: 88gFiber: 3gSugar: 60gProtein: 7g
JustAMumNZ.com, occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although justamumnz.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
A huge thank you to Westgold for partnering with me, their quality pure NZ butter means this rich decadent date pudding and and silky butterscotch sauce are a total winner, it’s a match made in heaven! Be sure to check out their full range in stores.
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Happy Baking!
Anna
Viv says
In the video it looked like you used a casserole dish to bake the sticky date pudding rather than a tin pan . Never ever done that! Does it take longer to cook?
justamumnz says
Hi, no it is in a cake tin for this recipe.
Ngaio M Johnstone says
Hi Anna: HUGE success with friends that were around for a dinner party. Made two cakes and froze them a week out from the party. Gently thawed them morning of the party, then reheated, and followed through on the sauce etc. Particularly pleased with being able to ‘prep’ – make the cake early, make the sauce same day, but reheat it to finish the cake off and serve. Made triple the butterscotch so that we were able to put jugs of sauce on the table as well. Thank you kindly for a bombproof, easy recipe. Love it!!
justamumnz says
Brilliant!
Aby says
I would love to try this delicious cake. Can you provide the measurements in cups?
justamumnz says
Hi, the cup measurements are there. For the butter or other ingredients measured in grams you can convert these to cups online. This recipe is based on NZ cups which is 250mls.