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A classic British dessert is made vegan in this easy Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe. Incredibly moist, sticky, and delicate, this dessert is best served with plenty of ice cream during Christmas!
No, Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding is not like your average bowl of vegan chocolate pudding. It’s a classic British, Australian, and New Zealand dessert that layers a buttery toffee sauce over ultra-moist pudding sponge cakes. Every bite is completely luxurious and sticky in the best way!
Learning how to make vegan sticky toffee pudding is simple, too. This recipe begins by infusing a classic spiced cake batter with a date, brown sugar, and non-dairy milk mixture. After baking, these pudding cakes are soaked in a homemade 4-ingredient toffee sauce and served with ice cream.
It’s a rich and delicate dessert that’s always a hit during Christmas or any time of year! Best of all, they’re just as decadent as classic sticky date pudding, so none of your guests will notice that they’re vegan.
Recipe features
- The pudding cakes are almost impossibly rich and moist, while the decadent toffee syrup is the perfect finishing touch.
- Any home baker can master this British dessert. All you need is a handful of vegan-friendly baking staples and a little patience.
- My version is just as good as the classic but is dairy and egg free!
Ingredients
Dates – Use any kind of pitted dates you like.
Milk – Use your favorite non-dairy milk here. Anything goes!
Vegan butter – You can use any brand of vegan butter you like. Just like in classic caramel, the butter is crucial for achieving a luxurious flavor and consistency in the pudding cakes.
Brown sugar – Brown sugar sweetens and adds a rich molasses-like flavor to the date pudding and the toffee sauce. Coconut sugar would work well as a substitute.
Warm spices – Ground nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon fill the pudding cakes with warm and divine flavors.
Maple syrup – This helps sweeten the toffee sauce along with the brown sugar.
Coconut cream – Canned full-fat coconut milk works here, too. Just try to use as much of a thick white part as possible (I like to put the can in the fridge overnight so most of the milk solidifies).
Instructions
Step 1: Simmer the dates. Add the chopped dates, milk, and vanilla to a saucepan and heat to a simmer. Continue simmering until the dates are soft and breaking apart, then set aside. Blend with an immersion blender.
Step 2: Make the wet mixture. Return the blended milk-date mixture to the heat. Once it starts simmering, add the butter and brown sugar. Whisk until the butter melts and everything is mixed together. Set aside.
Step 3: Make the pudding cakes. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Use a spatula to fold the wet mixture into the dry mix until just combined.
Step 4: Bake. Transfer the batter to a muffin tin, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the puddings cool while you work on the toffee sauce.
Step 5: Make the toffee sauce. Add the toffee sauce ingredients to a saucepan, then bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Whisk the mixture for 3 minutes, then pour it into a jar.
Step 6: Assemble, then serve. Poke the tops and bottoms of each pudding with a toothpick before pouring the toffee sauce over top. Serve with vegan ice cream and enjoy!
Tips and FAQs
- Try not to stray too far from the recipe or make too many substitutions to the ingredients.
- Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together using a silicone spatula. Only stir until everything comes together, as overworking the batter will lead to dense cakes.
- Use a generous amount of sauce! Sticky date pudding should be practically drowning in toffee sauce.
- Serve your sticky pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous dollop of vegan whipped cream!
Tip
It’s okay if the pudding cakes are still warm when you pour the toffee sauce over top. However, they also shouldn’t be so hot that you can’t touch them.
Do you have to soak the dates in advance?
Nope! Simmering the dates in the vanilla-milk mixture softens them nicely, so there’s no need to soak them in water before baking.
Can toffee pudding be made gluten free?
I’ve only tested this recipe with all purpose flour but a quality gluten free all purpose flour should work well as a substitute.
Can you bake the pudding cakes in a different pan?
Yes, you can swap the 6-cup muffin tin for individual ramekins or a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
Can you make vegan toffee pudding ahead of time?
Yes, you can make the cakes and toffee sauce a few days ahead of time. Just hold off on assembling until right before serving!
Keep in mind that the toffee sauce will thicken as it chills. To help it loosen, gently heat it in a saucepan once again and add a little more coconut cream to thin it out.
Storage
Refrigerator: If you can, store the pudding cakes and toffee sauce in separate airtight containers. Both will refrigerate well for up to 5 days. Warm the cakes in the microwave and the sauce in a saucepan before serving.
Freezer: The pudding cakes and toffee sauce freeze well (separately) for about 3 months. Let both thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating and serving.
More vegan holiday desserts
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Vegan Sticky Toffee pudding
A classic British dessert is made vegan in this easy Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe. Incredibly moist, sticky, and delicate, this dessert is best served with plenty of ice cream during Christmas!
Servings:
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a 6-cup muffin tin.
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Add chopped dates, milk, and vanilla to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 7-10 minutes until the dates are soft and starting to break apart. Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the mixture together. Then return to heat at a simmer and add the butter and brown sugar. Whisk constantly until the butter has melted and everything is mixed together. Set aside.
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Meanwhile, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ground ginger, and cinnamon to a medium bowl and stir together. Then, add the date mixture to the dry ingredients and mix using a rubber spatula until just combined.
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Transfer batter to the muffin tin and distribute evenly. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let puddings sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes and then remove and let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes.
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While the cakes are baking, make the toffee sauce. Add maple syrup, brown sugar, butter, and coconut cream to a saucepan. Bring mixture to a rolling boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the 15 minutes are up, grab a whisk and whisk constantly for 3 additional minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl/jar; the sauce will thicken as it cools. If you’re making this ahead of time, refrigerate the sauce, then reheat in the microwave. If it gets too thick, add back into a saucepan and add a little more coconut cream to thin it out.
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Grab a warm pudding and poke holes all over the top and bottom with a toothpick. Then, add toffee sauce overtop of the pudding letting the sauce go through the poked holes inside the pudding. Add as much toffee sauce as desired and serve with ice cream (optional). Enjoy!
Notes
*Before drizzling the toffee sauce overtop, the pudding cakes should still be warm, but not so hot that you can’t touch them. Allowing them to cool while you make the sauce should be enough time to them to cool slightly
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 357kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 759mg | Potassium: 226mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 723IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 147mg | Iron: 2mg
