Sticky Date Pudding Cake with Chocolate Whisky Sauce has a sentimental place in our family. This recipe is an adaptation of the first birthday I made my husband, form what was a favourite cookbook. I suspect giving up “old favourites” is a real barrier for many people contemplating changing their diet. As my skills and confidence have grown, I gradually returned to favourite books such as Pitt Cue &Co. Over a few iterations I developed this family favourite into a vegan version complete with chocolate whisky sauce .
Served warm, smothered in a whisky chocolate sauce, our version of a tradtional british classic is definite crowd pleaser. We love to my make this cake for birthdays and other special occasions.
Adapting a recipe requires a bit of discipline and patience – otherwise you may end up with an “unrepeatable” success.
- Only change one ingredient at a time.
- Measure and weigh everything.
- Keeping notes on what’s been changed.
With cakes, the easiest place to start is removing the dairy. However, different milk alternatives may then require a change in the amount of flour or sweetner.
It can easily be made gluten free if needed (whisky becomes gluten free during the distillation process).
Sticky Date Pudding Cake with Chocolate Whisky Sauce
To fit a 19.5cm cake tin, a double recipe makes a large 27cm cake
Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake
Ingredients:
- 125g dates, pitted and chopped
- 125g prunes, pitted and chopped
- 375ml cola – I use the best boutique style cola I can source
- 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
- 90ml water
- 100g dairy free margarine
- 125g soft brown sugar
- 375g self raising flour (GF self raising flour works too)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp flakey sea salt
Chocolate Whisky Sauce
Ingredients:
- 100g dairy-free dark chocolate
- 125g dairy-free butter
- 125g soft brown sugar
- 125ml plant-based cream (I love Oatly, but we currently can’t buy it in NZ)
- 50ml Whisky
- pinch of flakey sea salt
Method:
Line a 19.5cm cake tin with baking paper.
Mix the chia seeds and water together and set aside.
To make the whisky chocolate sauce, melt margarine, chocolate and brown sugar in a small pot. Remove from heat and whisk in the plant-based cream, whisky and a pinch of seasalt.
Pour enough sauce to coat the base of the lined cake tin and put it in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
Set the rest of the sauce aside.
Put chopped date and prunes into a small pot with cola. Simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes or until the dates are soft.
Beat together margarine and sugar, using a mixer will get the best results. Add the chia seed mixture, if you have a grinder or stick blender you can make the chia seed mixture into a paste before adding it (not essential). Stir in the flour and baking powder.
Add the baking soda and seasalt to the hot date and prune mixture. Pour this into the cake batter and mix gently.
Pour the cake batter into the chilled cake tin.
Bake at 170ºC/325ºF for 30-40 minutes or until risen and nearly cooked through. Remove from the oven and poke holes into the top with a skewer, pour a little sauce over the top and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
Remove from tin and smother with whisky chocolate sauce, if serving during the Festive season, a warm glass of Egg(less) Nog could be the perfect tipple
