Forget the big, heavy dessert and say hello to a perfectly portioned treat. These individual sticky date puddings are the ultimate personal dessert experience. Wonderfully rich, dark, and moist, each little pudding is a flavour powerhouse thanks to a simple mashed date method that guarantees a soft, gooey sponge every time. This recipe is designed to be simple, creating impressive single-serving desserts without any fuss, ready to be drenched in our incredible butterscotch sauce.
What’s In These Sticky Date Puddings?
The magic of this recipe lies in its simple, everyday ingredients that come together to create something truly special. There are no fancy items here, just basic pantry staples. The star of the show is, of course, the pitted dates, which get mashed down to create that incredibly moist, dark, and flavourful sponge. Paired with a little brown sugar for richness and classic baking ingredients, this pudding is wonderfully straightforward. You’ll find everything you need below—and don’t forget to have your butterscotch sauce ready for serving!
- Pitted Dates
- Baking Soda
- Brown Sugar
- Water
- Unsalted Butter
- Eggs
- Plain Flour
- Baking Powder
How to Make Sticky Date Pudding From Scratch
The Secret to a Moist Pudding: Mashing the Dates
The key to a truly rich and moist sticky date pudding lies in the first step: preparing the dates. We start by roughly chopping pitted dates and placing them in a bowl with baking soda. Pouring boiling water over the top and letting it sit for ten minutes does two things: it softens the dates significantly and activates the baking soda. You’ll then mash this mixture until it looks like a sloppy porridge. This process is crucial for creating an incredibly tender crumb and infusing that deep, caramel-like date flavour throughout the entire pudding.
Bringing It All Together: Batter & Baking
Once the date mixture is ready, the batter comes together in minutes. It’s a simple method of creaming the softened butter and brown sugar, beating in the eggs one at a time, and then gently mixing in the flour and baking powder. The final step is to fold the mashed date puree through the batter. This recipe gives you the choice to either bake one single pudding in a square cake pan or to create perfectly portioned individual sticky date puddings in separate moulds. Whichever you choose, the magic happens right at the end when you poke holes in the hot pudding and pour over the warm butterscotch sauce, letting it soak in for that signature gooey finish.
How to Serve Your Sticky Date Pudding
The absolute best way to enjoy this pudding is served warm, fresh from the oven, when it’s at its most gooey and fragrant. For the ultimate dessert experience, place a warm individual pudding or a slice of the larger cake in a bowl and top it with a generous scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream. The contrast of the cold, creamy ice cream melting into the warm, rich sponge is pure bliss. To finish, don’t forget to drizzle a generous amount of your warm, homemade butterscotch sauce over everything. That final cascade of liquid gold is what truly makes this a dessert to remember.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out for you! Please leave a comment and a star rating below to let me and other readers know what you think.
Rich and Moist Individual Sticky Date Puddings
A wonderfully rich and moist sticky date pudding recipe that is surprisingly easy to make from scratch. This recipe uses a simple mashed date technique for an incredibly gooey and flavourful sponge. Serve these individual puddings warm from the oven, drenched in butterscotch sauce with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate dessert.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Preparation
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Generously grease 7 individual pudding moulds with butter.
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Mash the Dates
Place the chopped dates in a heatproof bowl and sprinkle the baking soda over them. Carefully pour over the boiling water and let it stand for 10 minutes to soften. Use a potato masher or fork to mash the dates into a thick, sloppy puree.
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Make the Batter
In a separate bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar together until smooth and combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
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Combine and Fill
Add the flour and baking powder to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated—do not overmix. Fold in the mashed date puree until it is evenly combined through the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the 7 greased pudding moulds, filling each about 2/3 of the way up.
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Bake the Puddings
Place the moulds in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a pudding comes out clean.
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Soak and Serve
While the puddings are still hot, use a skewer to poke about 10 holes into the surface of each one. Spoon one tablespoon of warm Butterscotch Sauce over each pudding and let it soak in for 10 minutes before turning out onto serving plates. Serve immediately with extra sauce and ice cream.
Nutrition Facts
Servings 7
Serving Size 1 Pudding
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 396kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 13g20%
- Sodium 338mg15%
- Total Carbohydrate 66g22%
- Sugars 41g
- Protein 6g12%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Oh these look absolutely divine!