This Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake transforms the classic British dessert into a delicious layer cake! Date infused cake layers, vanilla buttercream, and a decadent toffee sauce.
I am an excellent planner when it comes to almost everything in life… except for (apparently) baking. With baking, I am the worst.
The WORST.
I don’t understand it. I have a background in project management, and when planning trips or anything else in life I am SO on top of it.
When it comes to baking… I just don’t know what happens. It’s like I can’t commit to an idea or something. I’m constantly changing my mind and forgetting things, and it just makes for a huge waste of time. I can’t make a decision to save my life.
Case in point: this Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake.
It all started with my lack of a plan on how to attack this cake. I had a recipe in mind (modified from Rock Recipes) but I didn’t know how I wanted to incorporate the toffee sauce or how to decorate it.
Oh well, I knew I could get the cake layers baked up and out of the way, and worry about the rest at a later date (hah!).
I had the foresight to buy the Medjool dates, as I knew I’d be making this cake, but I didn’t think to check my stock of other stuff.
So there I am, getting out all my trusty ingredients, only to realize that my molasses had expired. *&%$. Off to the store I go (it’s a 20min round trip at best, usually longer).
So I go get what I need, get home, and start prepping everything. Somewhere in those few minutes, I realize that I want to drizzle the toffee sauce over the cake layers while they’re still hot out of the oven. Do you think I’d have had the foresight to buy heavy cream for the toffee sauce while I was at the grocery store? NooOOOoooo. Why would I do that? That would be smart and efficient and organized. Clearly, I am none of those things.
So, off I go to the store. Again.
Finally back home, I start whipping up the cake batter. It all goes smoothly except I have way too much batter for my 2″ tall pans.
UGH.
Thankfully I realized this and did not overfill my pans. They didn’t spill over, but I did have some excess. I’ve since modified the recipe, as I had to remake the entire cake anyhow (read on).
Once the cakes were out of the oven and out of their pans, I poked them all over with a bamboo skewer and slathered the hot toffee sauce onto them. I cooled them completely, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and stuck them in the freezer, since I wouldn’t be finishing the cake until the following week.
I actually freeze almost all of my cake layers before using them. I try to spread out my baking as much as possible and do stuff in batches, so I’ll often have a variety of frozen cake layers ready to go in the freezer.
Freezing the cakes works perfectly, whereas putting them in the refrigerator dries them out. Just be sure to double wrap them in plastic wrap before freezing.
So, fast forward to the following week — aka, decorating and photos. I could not, for the life of me, decide how I wanted to decorate this cake. I need to be better about planning this stuff up front, because winging it on the day really isn’t working for me.
No joke that I spent 4 hours decorating and re-decorating this cake. It’s ridiculous.
I did 4 versions one day, hated them all, and just stuck the cake into the fridge in order to try version 5 the next day.
Here are some crappy pics of the crappy 4 initial versions.
Versions 1-4
Before attempting version 5, I made more toffee sauce, since I had run out from all of the previous failed decorating attempts.
So, the next day comes along and it’s another disaster. Maybe this cake was not meant to be.
Something was off in my toffee sauce — it was WAY too thin, and no amount of fridge/freezer time was thickening it. I was so over this cake by this point, so I just went with it and took pics, hating the cake through and through the entire time.
Here’s a shot of version 5, which was just as disappointing as the initial 4.
Version 5
Unfortunately (for me) the pics just did not turn out.
Maybe it was self-sabotage because I hated the cake anyhow, I don’t know. All the pics were dull and blurry. I thought I could edit them to be ok, but it wasn’t working.
After a good week of mulling it over, I decided to redo the cake entirely. I tweaked the recipe a bit too since the first one made a bit too much batter. The layers baked up much prettier in the second version.
Version 6
I think my biggest struggle with this whole Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake, and what ultimately caused all the issues, was deciding on the approach to take with the frosting.
Frosting isn’t traditional in sticky toffee pudding. It’s cake and toffee syrup, sometimes with ice cream or whipped cream on the side. So I didn’t want this cake to be frosting heavy, but I also didn’t want it to look too much like my Caramel Apple Cake.
It needed the toffee drizzle though since that’s a main component of sticky toffee pudding! Ugh. Finally, I settled on a semi-naked cake with toffee drizzle. It is what it is, and really all that matters, in the end, is how it tastes, right?
So, version 6 (the final version) of this cake was better and good enough. I don’t love that it looks so much like my Caramel Apple Cake and that it’s another drip cake, but I think this style just worked best for a Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake.
Well, I’ve rambled (ranted) on for an eternity, and we haven’t even talked about what Sticky Toffee Pudding is! If you’ve never tried it before, then trust me that you need it in your life, because it is SO delicious!
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a British dessert consisting of a cake made with dates and drizzled with toffee sauce.
When I first saw it on the menu at a restaurant I thought it was going to be a bread pudding-type dish. It’s NOT. I am not a bread pudding fan. Soggy bread is one of the grossest things to me. I just can’t deal with the texture. As such, I avoided sticky toffee pudding for a good chunk of my life and totally missed out!!
I think this Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake does the original justice. My taste testers have loved it, and I’ve had at least one British friend say it was amazing. That’s all the validation I need, and it certainly makes the struggles with this cake worthwhile.
If you are a Sticky Toffee Pudding fan, I hope you will love this cake as much as I do!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. Baking time may need to be adjusted.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size.
- For other conversions go here.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- The toffee sauce can be made the day before and left at room temperature overnight or refrigerated for up to a week. You’ll need to bring it to room temperature again before use.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can I get the measurements by weight/grams?
- There is a Metric option in the recipe card. If you click it it will convert everything to grams.
- This conversion is done automatically and I cannot guarantee the accuracy but many readers have had success using the metric option on my recipes.
Do I drain the Dates mixture before mashing?
- No. Mash the dates up with the liquid.
Tips for this Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake
- I used a generous amount of toffee sauce on the layers, so the cake is extra moist. You can use as much or as little as you want.
- The baking soda helps to soften the dates so they are easier to mash. Don’t drain the dates before mashing.
- If you make your toffee sauce in advance and refrigerate it (I did), you’ll need to warm it up again the next day as it might separate a bit. Be sure to let it cool and thicken before drizzling on the top of the cake.
- I prepare my cake pans using Homemade Cake Release and line with parchment paper.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cakes post!
Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake
Ingredients
Dates:
- 10 oz pitted medjool dates chopped (about 18 whole dates)
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar packed, I used demerara
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4 Tbsp fancy molasses not blackstrap
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Toffee Sauce:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed, I used demerara
- 1 Tbsp fancy molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Dates:
- Place dates and water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over med heat and simmer for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in baking soda. Let sit while making the cake batter. Mash before using in cake. Do not drain water.
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease & flour three 6″ cake pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on med-high (approx. 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add molasses and vanilla. Beat until combined.
- Add flour mixture in 3 batches then add in the hot mashed dates. Beat until combined.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until the cakes spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean (approx. 40-45 mins). Make Toffee Sauce while cakes are baking.
- Cool in pans on wire rack for 10mins, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Toffee Sauce:
- Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking occasionally. Simmer for 2 minutes.
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.**
- Add vanilla and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Trim the tops so that they are flat and so that the top crust of the cake is removed.
- Poke holes into the cakes using a bamboo skewer (or something similar in size). Spoon 2-3 Tbsp of the warm toffee sauce onto each of the cake layers. Spread evenly. Cool completely.
- Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate or cake stand. Top with 2/3 cup buttercream and spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers.
- Do a thin coat of frosting all over the cake. Using a large icing scraper, scrape and smooth the frosting on the sides of the cake so that some of the cake starts to show through. Smooth the top with an offset spatula.
- Chill cake for 30mins.
- Warm up the toffee sauce if necessary until it is pourable but not too thin and not warm.
- Using a small spoon, place dollops of toffee sauce around the top edges of the cooled cake, allowing some to drip down. Fill in the top of the cake with more toffee sauce and spread evenly with an offset spatula.
Michelle Krueger says
Should this cake be stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve or can it be stored at room temperature?
Olivia says
Hi Michelle! It will be fine at room temperature for a day or two, otherwise I’d refrigerate but then bring to room temp before serving 🙂
Rebecca says
Hi Olivia! Do you have recommendations on how to adapt the cake recipe using golden syrup and treacle instead of molasses? Also, your recipe lists demerara sugar, however, the link provided redirects to traditional C&H dark brown sugar. Which of the two is best to use (I have both)? Looking forward to baking this cake!
Olivia says
Hi Rebecca! I’m not entirely sure but I think you can just swap treacle for molasses straight up. If it’s a strong/dark treacle, I would replace up to half of it with the syrup. Either sugar will work, I would go with whichever one is a finer grain (easier to dissolve). I like dark brown for the color, but a lighter brown will work fine too!
Nicola says
Hi, this looks fab. I want to make it for my brother for his 30th birthday whilst we’re in lockdown, but all I can get is light brown sugar (shortage of baking ingredients)! Will it be OK?
Olivia says
Hi Nicola! Light brown will work fine 🙂
Monica says
I want to make this cake for a birthday but since only two of us will be eating it, can I halve the recipe and bake in a 8×8 square pan?
Olivia says
Hi Monica! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html Based on that, I would 2/3 the recipe (change the Servings to 8 to get the amounts). You could also halve it for ease of measurements, but be sure to reduce the baking time if needed.
BeckiW says
Hey – I am just about to bake this – would any of the measurements of the cake change if I was to add diced apples ?
Olivia says
Hi Becky! The apples will add additional moisture to the cake and could affect the overall bake and texture. It might require some experimenting to get them to work well with the cake.
Ester says
Hi Liv,
Would you have this recipe for and 8 inch pans? As I want to make it as a two tier cake. Top 6inch and bottom 8inch. Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Ester! The recipe as-is will work for two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans you should 1.5x the recipe.
amber says
Hello! Is that for 12 servings?
Olivia says
Hi Amber! For two 8″ pans yes. For three 8″ it would be more like 16 servings.
Stephanie Breslin says
I loved this cake and so did everyone that tried it at my holiday party!
Also your vanilla cake recipe is my absolute favourite. I love your recipes, thank you so much for posting this!
I would upload a picture but I dont this this comment section has the ability.
Xoxo
Olivia says
Hi Stephanie! Thank you! I’m so happy to hear you like my recipes 🙂 I’d love to see a photo! You can email it to me at livforcakeblog@gmail.com or send it to me via Instagram 🙂
Ramona Arevalo says
I have made this cake twice and the results were really good. The cake was very delicious and moist indeed. Never had cake with dates and this one really surprised me. Thank you very much for your detailed recipes. I just hope that I could decorate better to have the same result as yours. My toffee sauce was a lighter color and not thick enough. Wonder why? Will be making a third one for someone’s birthday at the end of this month. Grateful if you could advise what makes the toffee sauce have the dark brown color and how to make it thicker. Thank you so much!
Olivia says
Hi Ramona! I love this cake so much and I so happy you liked it too. Sounds like the toffee sauce just needed to cook a little bit longer maybe? Did you use a brown sugar in it?
Ramona Arevalo says
Yes I did use brown sugar. How long will it take for the toffee sauce to get darker? Thank you.
Olivia says
Did you use molasses as well? It should just take a couple of minutes simmering on the stove. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon.
Ramona Arevalo says
Hi Olivia,
I guess my fancy molasses is not dark enough. Have tried a few times still no success :(. Anyway, the cake always turns out delicious. Just love your dark brown effect.
Thank you so much and wish you a very happy new year !
Olivia says
Happy New Year to you as well! Most important is that it tastes delicious 🙂
Nikita says
Is there any way I can make this without dates it’s for my brothers birthday and he hates dates ?
Olivia says
Hi Nikita! No, not this particular recipe since it’s all about the dates here! I would recommend choosing something else.
Rebecca says
You can, I did it today, you can use honey instead and just use about 25% less honey than dates 🙂
Krista says
Hi Liv!
Can the whole thing be made and assembled the day before serving?
Olivia says
Hi Krista! You bet, just refrigerate it and take it out 2-3 hours before serving so it can come to room temp 🙂
Jessica Smith says
Apologies if asked already, I made the cake and it was possibly the best sponge I’ve ever made, amazing! I have some dates left and would love to make this in cupcakes or even super mini layer cakes, do you think this would work?
Olivia says
Hi Jessica! You can totally make cupcakes or mini cakes with this recipe. All you need to do is adjust the baking time.
Laura says
I made this cake today (haven’t served it yet, but the off cuts were delicious!) I have a question about the toffee sauce. Yours looks beautiful and smooth, whereas mine looks slightly grainy/crystallised, do you know where I might have gone wrong? I refrigerated it overnight, then warmed it slightly the next day (it went on the cake looking great, then after it had been sitting out a bit got the grainy look). Would appreciate any advice 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Laura! Strange that it got grainy after sitting for a while but was fine after the fridge and reheating. I’m not actually sure what would have caused that. How quickly did it crystalize?
Laura says
About ten minutes after I put the sauce on the cake it started to crystallise. We ate the cake today and it tasted lovely! Just wish I knew where I went wrong with the sauce.
Olivia says
Super bizarre! I’m going to have to look into this. I’ve only known sugar to crystalize while making the caramel, not after.
Sherryl Loman says
Hello Liv!
I cannot wait to attempt this cake for Christmas this year. Sticky Toffee Pudding is my absolute favourite restaurant dessert and that is always my #1 choice if it’s on the menu (some have been better than others, I’ve found 😉
Since discovering this amazing treat, I have been searching for the perfect recipe. I’m not going to lie — I was shocked that the key ingredient is dates! I would never have guessed this — I am not a “date” fan (or so I thought).
Your cake is absolutely gorgeous and the recipe looks amazing. I’m sure my version will look less appealing than your first 5 attempts — but if I’m careful, I hope it will at least be edible (I would NOT have the patience to attempt over and over LOL)
Thank you for sharing all of your delicious masterpieces. I love making something decadent and beautiful.
Merry Christmas!
Sherryl (from windy Alberta)
Olivia says
Hi Sherryl! I’m not a date fan either and was also surprised that they were a main component. I am sure your version will be just as delicious — it’s the taste that matters, after all :). You have to let me know how it goes! Merry Christmas!
Bev says
I tasted a sticky toffee cake at a restaurant. Delicious! It had a layer of white icing on top and the toffee sauce on that. Could this cake be made in a 9 by 13 pan? Is there another way to make the buttercream other than with egg whites? I have a problem getting eggs to set up.
Olivia says
Hi Bev! You can use an American buttercream if you prefer, here’s my fave recipe for that: https://livforcake.com/simple-vanilla-buttercream/
Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
Ingrid says
Could you use meringue powder in place of egg whites?
Olivia says
Hi Ingrid! I would use egg whites for best results. I don’t think the meringue powder would give the right consistency.
Jess says
Hiya! Going to attempt this for a NYE celebration. I only have 8″ pans though… How would you recommend converting this?
Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Jess! I would make the recipe as is in two 8″ pans. If you want 3 layers then 1.5x the recipe (you can adjust the Servings slider to 18). Baking temp would stay the same and baking time should be close as well.
Laura G says
Hello….message from Glasgow, Scotland!
Made this cake this week for a sticky toffee pudding mad friend’s Hen Weekend and it went down a storm!!!!
Everyone loved it and said how like actual sticky toffee pudding it was!
It does take some time to prepare but not as long as I thought.
I loved the meringue buttercream as it was really quite light and the cake is very rich so it was the perfect combination – I’m glad I didn’t just make a buttercream icing which I was quite tempted to do for speed!
Anyways – great recipe, thanks xx
Olivia says
Hi Laura! Thanks so much for the great feedback. So glad everyone loved it!
BELINDA says
Hello! I want to use 6 inch pans, would u think it would work?
Olivia says
Hi Belinda! The recipe calls for 6″ pans.
Chantell says
I wish I could attach a photo looks so impressive can’t wait to try it tomorrow!
Olivia says
I would love to see a pic, you can email it to me if you like! I hope you like it!
Claire says
Love this recipe, making it again but using dried dates, do I need to reduce the amount of dates used? Or just increase the water added. Promised nan I make it for her birthday tomorrow!
Olivia says
Hi Claire! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 I’m actually not sure re: dried dates — it would require some experimentation. What did you end up trying?
Liz says
Thank you for this amazing recipe! I made this cake yesterday for a birthday party and everyone LOVED it!
I’m British so just made a few tiny changes… for molasses I used part black treacle part golden syrup, and for the toffee sauce I added a key ingredient – half a teaspoon of salt (as we often make this sauce with salted butter).
Incredible cake- can’t wait to try making some of your others 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Liz! That is certainly high praise from someone that’s British! So glad you liked it 🙂
Kylie says
Hi there, what is the equivalent of fancy molasses in Australia? Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Kylie! That is a good question. I’m actually not sure and google wasn’t much help in this regard 🙁
Julie says
Hi Kylie and Olivia
Hello from Oz
Made this for a friends anniversary and used treacle… came up a treat 😊👌 Julie
Olivia says
Hi Julie! So glad you liked it 🙂
nomi says
Hi Liv, I’m only able to get unsulphured molasses where I live. Do you think these will work instead of fancy? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Nomi! I think that should work fine. Let me know how it turns out!