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Desserts · Recipe 12

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes

Date sponges baked in a muffin tin, with toffee sauce and crème fraîche.

Proposed · not yet tested
Prep25 min
Cook25 min
Time60 min
Base yieldAbout 12 standard muffin-size puddings; 1 small pudding per serving

Estimated total includes the date soak and brief cooling; bake time is usually 20–25 minutes.

Ingredients

Units

Date cake

  • 200 gMedjool datesWeight after pitting; finely chop.
  • 225 mlWaterBoiling.
  • ¾ tspBaking soda
  • 75 gUnsalted butterSoftened; for the cake.
  • 125 gDark brown sugar
  • 2Large eggsIf scaling to a fraction of an egg, beat first; 1 large egg without shell is about 50 g.
  • 1 tspVanilla extract
  • 175 gAll-purpose flour
  • 1 tspBaking powder
  • ¼ tspFine salt

Tin

  • 10 gUnsalted butterFor greasing.

Toffee sauce

  • 180 gDark brown sugar
  • 75 gUnsalted butter
  • 250 mlHeavy cream
  • 1 tspVanilla extract
  • ¼ tspFine salt

To serve

  • 180 gCrème fraîche

Ingredient quantities scale; oven temperatures and cooking times do not. Keep batter depth and pan crowding consistent. For fractional eggs, beat and weigh.

Method

  1. Prepare the dates and tin

    Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C, conventional. Grease a standard 12-hole muffin tin with the butter listed for greasing. Mix the chopped dates with the boiling water and baking soda; leave for 10 minutes, then mash into a rough paste. Let it cool until just warm.

  2. Mix the cake batter

    Beat the softened unsalted butter and brown sugar listed under Date cake until lighter and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the cake’s vanilla. Separately combine the flour, baking powder, and salt listed under Date cake. Fold the dry mixture into the butter mixture, then fold in the dates and all their liquid just until combined.

  3. Bake

    Divide among the wells, filling no more than three-quarters full. If the tin is smaller, put extra batter in a greased ramekin rather than overfilling. Bake about 20–25 minutes, checking from 18 minutes, until the centers spring back and a skewer has moist crumbs but no wet batter. Cool in the tin for 5–10 minutes, then carefully loosen and turn out.

  4. Make the toffee sauce

    While the cakes bake, put the sugar, butter, cream, and salt listed under Toffee sauce in a saucepan. Warm gently, stirring until smooth. Simmer for 3–5 minutes until slightly thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla listed under Toffee sauce.

  5. Soak and serve

    Prick the warm cakes a few times with a skewer and spoon over a little warm sauce. Give it a minute to soak in. Serve each cake with more sauce and a spoonful of cold crème fraîche. Keep extra sauce for the table.

Preparation & notes

  • Bake the cakes and make the sauce one day ahead. Cool and refrigerate separately in covered containers.
  • To serve, place cakes in a baking dish with a little sauce, cover, and reheat at 300°F / 150°C until hot throughout. Gently warm the remaining sauce, adding a splash of water if it is too thick.
  • Proposed 12-cake muffin-tin version; yield and bake time need a first kitchen test. For 4–8 guests, freeze the extra unsauced cakes or serve two small cakes for larger portions.
  • McNally-style comfort-dessert inspiration only; no verified restaurant formula is claimed.
  • Ingredient scaling changes the number of cakes, not the oven temperature or individual-cake baking time. Weigh fractional beaten eggs.
Food safety

Refrigerate the cream-based sauce and finished puddings within 2 hours. Store at 40°F / 4°C or colder; use within 3 days or freeze the cakes.

Recipe & safety notes

Original measured draft; not a verified restaurant recipe or kitchen-tested final version.

FDA: safe refrigeration and the two-hour rule ↗King Arthur Baking: individual date-sponge technique reference ↗

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