The Dish
Date Night
A rich and sweet sticky toffee pudding worth staying in for
With its deliberately pocked and pitted decor, the Ceili Cottage looks like it dates back to the days of the Loyalists. But Patrick McMurray’s new gastropub is clearly tapping in to Torontonians’ hankering for all things cheap and soothing. Our favourite dish is chef Kyle Deming’s unspeakably decadent sticky toffee pudding ($6). The place has been hopping since day one. For sweet tooths unable to snag a table, here’s how to make it at home.
Cake
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Toffee Sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup whipping cream
Directions
1. For cake, grease base and sides of an 8-inch (2 L) square metal baking pan and line base with parchment paper.
2. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add dates and stir well. Remove saucepan from the heat and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a medium bowl and using an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter until pale
and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
5. In a food processor, pulse dates and water until dates are finely minced. Stir flour into sugar mixture alternately with date mixture, starting and ending with flour.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350° F for about 30 to 35 minutes or until cake is browned and pulling away from sides of pan, and a cake tester inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.
7. For sauce, just before cake is ready, heat sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until butter melts. Stir in cream and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
8. When cake is ready, set pan on a wire rack. Make many holes, about 1/2 inch apart, all over cake with a skewer. Slowly drizzle hot toffee sauce evenly over cake. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm with softly whipped cream.
Makes 9 servings
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