This week we were so happy to welcome Emily Richards back to the kitchen lab. You might recall that she’s worked with the boys before – showing them how to make gnocchi from scratch last December and then strawberry and rhubarb pies in June.
Her visit this time just happened to fall the week after I had the privilege of attending an event where Emily was one of the chefs – showcasing Natural Delights Medjool dates. Where I ate the dish in the photo above as part of a seven (!) course tasting menu featuring dates in each dish. It was an excellent meal, although I know a few of us were eying the sticky toffee pudding on the menu and wondering how on earth we would manage to fit that in. Well, we shouldn’t have worried because once it appeared in front of us, there was no question of whether we would have “just one bite”. Nope, there were clean plates all round on this one. It was so good. So very good that I asked Emily if she would show the boys how to make this one. They are always asking to make desserts and this one is a classic – plus it’s so easy and elegant – perfect for little hands!
So, we had a “date” with Emily. She spoke with the boys briefly about dates, letting them taste one each before they got started working with them. Over the past week, thanks to the folks at Natural Delights, I’ve learned a lot about dates, including the fact that there are few fruits as labour intensive. Here’ s a summary of the process from field to fork – a year in the life of a date, so to speak…
Depending on the size of the date palm, about 800 to 1,600 thorns are cut off each tree using large curved knives. This takes place in January and February. Offshoots are taken off the mother palm, placed in the nursery and then planted to create a new date garden. Each flower bunch must be pollinated evenly on both sides and to ensure even and complete absorption, the pollen is applied in February and March. One male palm can pollinate 48 to 50 female trees. From April to May date bunches are thinned, allowing for proper ventilation and more room to grow. Bunches are tied and secured firmly to the trees to prevent wind and weight damage. This also allows for better spacing and continued ventilation. In June and July a ring is placed in the centre of each bunch to allow for ventilation. Sacks are placed on the bunches and tied firmly to prevent birds from picking at the ripe fruit and to keep the dates from falling to the ground. The dates are picked as they mature. Workers go up into the tall trees (date palms are often 9 to 12 metres tall, and can reach heights of 20 metres or more! ) many times during the harvest season, each time only picking the tree-ripe fruit and re-bagging bunches to let them ripen further. Each date is carefully sorted and graded, first by hand, and then by machine to ensure quality.
What the boys retained? 1. They taste like candy. 2. They grow on palm trees. 3. They are sticky. 4. They go mushy in boiling water. 5. You can’t taste them in the sticky toffee pudding. All the important stuff, right?
(here, some of the boys are working with non-Medjool dates – a brand safe for those with nut allergies)
The recipe is so very easy, the boys had it prepared and ready to bake in plenty of time…
While the puddings baked, Emily showed the boys how to make date “truffles” – basically dates (stuffed with something if you wish), rolled in chocolate. Um, yeah!
We also made the butterscotch sauce. Cream, sugar, butter, golden syrup? Yes please. With a straw!
Once the puddings were out of the oven, some of us couldn’t resist the “sniff test”. Of course, they were declared to be smelling “amazing” 😉
Emily had bought the boys puddings already baked (! they are so spoiled!) so they each brought home two, topped with the luscious butterscotch sauce…
Mine, by the time I got to it after dismissal and cleanup, didn’t quite look as elegant as Emily’s had the week before at the dinner, but I ate it anyway. It was superb.
I’ll be making these again. Soon.
Sticky toffee pudding
Easy sticky toffee pudding.
Ingredients
- Medjool Date Cake
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 cup (250 mL) Natural Delights Medjool Dates, chopped and pitted
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (150 mL) packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla
- 1 1/3 cups (325 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder
- 1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
- Butterscotch Sauce
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) packed brown sugar
- 2/3 cup (150 mL) 35% whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) golden syrup
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
- To prepare Medjool date cake: In a saucepan, bring water and Medjool dates to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes; set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and soda. Stir into butter mixture until well combined. Stir in cooled Medjool date mixture until no streaks remain.
- Spread into parchment paper lined loaf pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack for about 15 minutes before turning out to serve.
- To prepare butterscotch sauce: In a saucepan, set over medium heat; bring butter, sugar, cream and golden syrup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes.
- Slice toffee pudding and spoon sauce over each slice to serve.
- Tip: To make individual sticky toffee puddings divide batter among 14½ cup (124.5 mL) ovenproof tins or ramekins and bake on baking sheet for about 16 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean.
Emily – thank you SO much for satisfying the boys’ (and my) sweet tooth tendencies. We so appreciate the generosity of people like you who volunteer their time to work with the boys each week.
Check out Emily’s latest cookbook “Get in The Kitchen and COOK!” – a book to get you in the kitchen preparing tasty meals quickly so you can enjoy time with family and friends both for weeknight meals as well as casual kitchen entertaining with friends. Check out what Emily’s up to by visiting her website or check out her blog and follow her on Twitter ERiscooking.
Disclosure: I attended the Natural Delights dinner as a media guest. I received a gift bag containing dates and date products courtesy of Natural Delights. I was not obliged to write about the dinner, nor make one of the recipes. It was a happy accident that Emily was coming to cook with us anyway and menu choices for the Petits Chefs are always my own.
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Well now!
In the interesting week that was, little did the unsuspecting Mardi know that Mr. Neil was also going to have a *date* with the wonderful Miss Emily — the very day after this class. (Okay, with 50 other friends, but that’s a mere detail.) Knowing the boys provide lunch for me, she was a little surprised to hear I did not get to sample this pudding! But not really. A quick investigatory table-text identified that said pudding never made it out of the staff room. I see.
To be fair, if I had these at work, I too know there’s no way I’d get one home! One of my favourite desserts…and I’m a huge date fan, in general. I’ll never forget walking the “date alley” road near Palmyra in Syria. It was a revelation: sellers must have had 20+ varieties of dates. Needless to say, I sampled heartifly. 😉
No wine pairing for this. As a rule of thumb, a dessert wine should be sweeter than the dessert it is being paired with. For this sticky-toffee pudding, that may be a challenge. So my alternate would be a liqueur. Something like Atholl Brose (whisky-based), or the more readily available Glayva or Drambuie.
I knew very little about what goes into producing dates. We’re spoiled here in S Calif b/c of our proximity to the Palm Springs region which is where the majority if our dates are produced. Fresh dates are even more delicious than their dried cousins!
Thus sticky cake us such a sweet old timey dessert. I must make a batch this w/end!!
These LPC posts have to stop. Why do these little guys get all the breaks?
These puddings leapt out of the screen – it’s not just how they look, you can smell ’em.
I bet consumption of these was, let’s just say, extremely quick. Nice post, Mardi.
And you weren’t even robbed of your lunch!
Gorgeous, Mardi! I’ve always wanted to make sticky pudding…and your recipe will be printed off to try!
I hope you enjoyed it!
Looks wonderful. I really enjoy dates but have only ever eaten them uncooked or baked in date squares and cookies. I think this recipe is a keeper.
This recipe really is a great one – try it!
This is totally one of the best life skills these boys can learn! If you can make a decent sticky date pudding, you will never be short of friends. You may need to also take up running, but that’s probably a good life skill too.
You seem to have the formula for a successful life totally sorted, Conor!