Anyone For Sticky Toffee Pudding?

Sticky toffee pudding

A simply irresistible dessert;

From the stickiness of the toffee

To the moistness of the cake 

Add vanilla ice-cream

To make heaven on plate. 

                                                                     

                                   - My Food Odyssey

That's my take on it anyway.

It is said that sticky toffee pudding was invented by Francis Coulson of the Ullswater Sharrow Bay Hotel in Cumbria back in the 1970s. However, in a finding by the British journalist Felicity Cloake, Mr Coulson actually admitted to adapting the recipe from a Mrs Martin of Lancashire.

After leaving Melbourne - where this delectable dessert is served by most cafes and restaurants - I landed in South-East Asia where it isn't as readily available. 

So what's a girl gotta do in these times of sticky toffee pudding shortages?  Make her own of course!

I started to scour the web and by chance, I even saw Nigella make her own quick version on TV.  Amongst the abundant recipes to be found, I decided that I wanted to follow the legendary Francis Coulson's.  Afterall, if the highly renowned British chef Gary Rhodes endorses it, it must be good. 

However, trying to find Coulson's exact recipe is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.  It is top secret and those who have been privy to it, have had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Still, I found a version of Coulson's recipe online at Miles Collins.  And I adapted it for my own kitchen confidential experiment.   As I couldn't locate black treacle anywhere, I decided to adapt Jamie Oliver's recipe for toffee sauce by reducing the amounts of butter, sugar and cream .  It came out divine.

Sticky Toffee Pudding With Toffee Sauce

Serving size: 6

PUDDING INGREDIENTS - adapted from Miles Collins

50g (2oz) unsalted butter (room temperature), plus a little extra for greasing 
170g (6oz) caster or brown sugar
2 free-range eggs, medium
175g (6oz) dates, pitted and chopped 
175g (6oz) self-raising flour, sieved
290ml (10fl oz) cold water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla essence

TOFFEE SAUCE -  adapted from Jamie Oliver

90g Unsalted Butter

90g Brown sugar

120ml Thick cream

Optional: Vanilla ice-cream

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350 F/gas mark 4.

2. Line and grease an 8" round baking tin.

3. Cream together sugar and butter until light and pale.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.  Sieve in flour and add vanilla essence. 

4. Meanwhile, place dates and water into a pan, boil for about 5 mins.  Add the bicarbonate of soda and give it a quick stir.

5.  Add the softened date mixture to the rest of the ingredients.  Mix everything together well, ensuring that there are no visible lumps of flour.

6. Pour the cake mixture into the baking tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and feels firm, but springy.

Tip: Insert a metal or wooden skewer to see if it comes out clean.  If so, the cake is ready. If not, put the cake back in the oven for a minute or more and test again.

7. Once cake is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes before removing from the tin.

8. For the sauce, simply place the butter, sugar and cream in a pan over a low heat.  Stir gently for about 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened and darkened in colour.
NOTE: Please do not leave the sauce as it will start to bubble and rise fairly quickly, which is normal.

To serve, cut cake into equal portions, pour generous amounts of sauce and a spoonful (or two) of vanilla ice-cream for that extra touch of decadence.  Enjoy.

Storage Tip:  This cake can keep for up to 6 days in a cold refridgerator.  It also freezes well. 

I freeze individual portions with sauce.  When ready to eat, pop a frozen portion into a microwave on high for about 60-90 seconds.  It tastes just as good as when it first comes out of the oven.

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NYDC, Holland Village, Singapore

 

In the mood for some dessert, I headed down Holland Village way.  It has the usual TCC, Coffee Bean & Co and then I stumbled across this place, NYDC which translates to New York Dessert Cafe. 

It was busy, which in my book is always a good sign.  The signature colour red is big and bold, large booths line one side of the wall, pop art pictures adorne the walls and there is a buzz of chatter.

The counter at the front houses delicious looking, waist increasing, calorie rich desserts, which for me are hard to resist. 

The menu is somewhat playful and in the end I chose the traditional New York cheesecake.  Well, it had to be right?!  The last traditional New York cheesecake I had was from Eileen's Cheesecake in Little Italy, lower Manhattan.  And my goodness, their cheesecake is amazing by the way!

Back to this NYDC cheesecake in Holland Village, Singapore.  It was offered with ice-cream, but I politely declined.  I don't need more calories on top of the cheesecake and my waistline would not have been a happy one, let alone a good-looking one...

The cheesecake arrived dutifully in good time; a drizzle of sweet mango coulis with the cheesecake on top, but almost ruined by the childish looking dollop of cream with a sprinkling of 'hundreds and thousands'.  Seeing as this place also caters for children, I guess they have to make it appeal to all ages.

The biscuit base was thin and sponge-like which is how I like it.  The cake itself was creamy and smooth, and the taste of it really took me back to the days when I used to eat up cheesecake galore on my trips to New York. 

The waitress was all happy and full of smiles, which made for a pleasant 'American' dining experience. 

I had a camomile tea with my cheesecake which was a refreshing and light companion to the delightful sweet dessert.   

NYDC is a great place to come with friends, family, or purely solo.

NYDC

30 Lorong Mambong, Holland Village, Singapore

Tel: +65 6469 2998

HOURS

11:30am - 12am (Sun-Thu)

11:30 am - 2:00 am (Fri & Sat)

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Salon de L'Oriental, Bangkok

As a Mandarin Oriental cafe, this place should without a doubt, be excellent.  Having only been here for tea and coffee before, my friend and I decided to venture into this place for lunch  today.  They offer a selection of enticing Thai and Western delights. 

You have to pass the cake display as you approach the entrance which all look beautifully made.  However, with my past experience of eating cakes in Thailand before, they don't taste like they should do.  So I was a little dubious as to how good they would taste...maybe I will try them one day...but not today...

There are several tables with comfy seating under huge canvas umbrellas.  There is also a soothing waterfall feature with tropical plants which makes for a relaxing and serene haven in this city shopping complex.   

On the menu, there are appetizers, soups, salad, sandwiches and Thai food.  We opt for the Thai food as we wanted to see how it was.  Feeling like a salad, we decided to share a papaya salad (which is traditionally eaten with fried chicken and sticky rice) followed by Khao Pad (Thai style fried rice) and a Chicken Green curry.

Whilst waiting for our food to be prepared, a bread basket was brought to us.  It included sesame seeded wafers, wholemeal raisin bagette, mini country roll, mini wholemeal roll and brioche.  I tried a little of each one; the seeded wafer wasn't anything special.  I loved the brioche which was light and buttery, but not too much so.  The raisin bread was delicious, but a little heavy for me.  Seeing as we had an appetizer to share with a main each, we felt it wise to eat only a little of the bread. 

When our papaya salad arrived, I was a little surprised at how small it was.  However, seeing as was an appetizer and not a main, I think it was a good portion for just that.  As expected, it was well presented and wonderfully dressed.  The salad was a mix of peanuts, green beans, sliced green papaya and carrot.  It was lovingly well balanced with a sweet and slightly spicy dressing.  A truly wonderful and refreshing starter indeed...

The Khao Pad (Fried rice) came with the usual fried egg on top.  Thais love having a fried egg on top of their fried rice and I must admit, it is a great addition to the dish.  There were three grilled sticks - chicken satay, pork satay and king prawn which comes with satay sauce on the side with mini Thai style prawn crackers.  Thai style prawn crackers differ from Chinese prawn crackers in that they are more dense, slightly pink in colour (from the prawns), are smaller and obviously taste different. 

Again, this plate was beautifully presented.  The rice had fried chicken, pork, dried shrimp, tomato, spring onions and more.  It was absolutely stunningly wonderful and there was plenty of it.  I enjoyed it so much that I have made a mental note to come back for this dish alone!

The chicken green curry was a substantial portion, came with a plate of plain jasmine rice and a plate of condiments (see picture below the green curry). 

It had lots of basil and wasn't too spicy (as I requested it to be), but I was dissappointed to find only a few segments of Thai aubergine (eggplant) and no baby Thai aubergine at all!!  The chicken meat wasn't fatty, but it came from the thigh.  Personally I prefer sliced chicken breast in my green curry.  The sauce was really very tasty though.  But with the significant lack of aubergine and the chicken meat, it was only mediocre.  I don't think I will be rushing back for this one.

The plate of condiments included a sweet plum chutney, roasted cashews, mini Thai prawn crackers, dried grated fish and what I can only describe as crispy thin backbone of little fish as I don't the proper name.  

All in all, I really enjoyed the bread, the papaya salad and the fried rice.  However, I've had much better chicken green curry elsewhere.  This won't stop me from coming back to try some of the other delectable sounding things on the menu.  Eyeing up the plates served to a couple of well dressed 'ladies who lunch', their toasted sandwiches looked utterly delicious with a generous serving of salad on the side - another thing to try...

The waiters were polite enough and friendly to a point, but not overly so.  I won't call this place excellent, but it is pretty good.  And as a Mandarin Oriental cafe, it already has high standards to adhere to. 

There is also a sister cafe on the M floor of the Paragon Shopping Complex.  I think I will be trying that one next time.

Salon de L'Oriental
Ground floor, Emporium Shopping Complex, 622 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110
Tel:  +66 (0)2 664 8000 
Nearest BTS: Phrom Phong

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